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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTN Rep Wants 1st Cousins to Legally Marry
Rep. Gino Bulso, whose grandparents were first cousins, rose to object to the law. He actually cited the US Supreme Court case on Obergefell, asserting that prohibiting first cousins to marry will violate the case that allowed for gay marriage. He argued that if two first cousins were gay and wanted to marry, that would violate the law.
It was somewhat outrageous for him to make this argument considering he has always been a staunch opponent of LBGTQ rights. But now he wants to use Obergefell to allow cousin marriages. Bulso sponsored a bill just this session to ban Pride flags from school campuses and classrooms, while making the following argument:
https://www.meidastouch.com/news/tn-rep-wants-1st-cousins-to-legally-marry
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
Floyd R. Turbo
(26,584 posts)Nevilledog
(51,196 posts)Link to tweet
The Tennessee Holler
@TheTNHoller
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JUST NOW @TNRepParkinson on @GinoBulso fighting to save first cousin marriage: That was ballsy Bulsos gonna break the Internet again.
10:04 AM · Apr 11, 2024
House of Roberts
(5,182 posts)you might be a redneck!' - Jeff Foxworthy
obamanut2012
(26,137 posts)Mountainguy
(537 posts)Birth defects are only about 1-2 percentage points higher than with non-cousin couples. It's about the same risk as a 40 year old mother giving birth.
It's mostly social stigma.
BannonsLiver
(16,448 posts)Ms. Toad
(34,087 posts)20 states permit it, including several blue states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, The District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Vermont; and Virginia.
The increased genetic risk is very small (absent an community of repeated cousins marrying cousins), and since we have access to science that risk virtually zero.
obamanut2012
(26,137 posts)obamanut2012
(26,137 posts)I would feel icky marrying my cousin, because we grew up together, but to each their own.
No medical reason not to do it, either.
ProudMNDemocrat
(16,789 posts)To become their Father or Mother-in-Law?
Yuck!