Teenagers from Utah's polygamous communities plan to stage a rally next week to stand up for their families.

The pro-polygamy group Principle Voices is organizing the Aug. 19 rally at the Salt Lake City-County building, but it will feature mostly youth speakers.

"Our teenagers really did want to defend their lifestyle," rally organizer Anne Wilde told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday. "Often they're perceived as the victims. They want to say no, they don't consider themselves the victims, they feel like this should be a free choice."

Members of the Apostolic United Brethren, Centennial Park, Davis Co-operative Society and independent fundamentalist communities are expected to be in attendance.

Wilde said the rally is also in response to the heat put on Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.

"Maybe that's exactly why," she said. "So that people will know that in other communities there isn't control in marriages."

The fugitive polygamist leader is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. He is charged in Utah and Arizona with sex crimes accusing him of forcing teenage girls into polygamous marriages with older men. Federal prosecutors have charged Jeffs with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. A $100,000 bounty is being offered for information leading to his arrest.

For more details, read tomorrow's edition of the Deseret Morning News.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com