TN Rep Wants 1st Cousins to Legally Marry

[demmiblue]

Tennessee House and Senate Democrats Rep. Darren Jernigan and Sen. Jeff Yarborough introduced a bill to ban marriages by biological first cousin, which is currently legal in that state.

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]

1. 🪕🪕

[Nevilledog]

2. LOL

Link to tweet

The Tennessee Holler
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JUST NOW — @TNRepParkinson on @GinoBulso fighting to save first cousin marriage: “That was ballsy… Bulso’s gonna break the Internet again.”


10:04 AM · Apr 11, 2024

[demmiblue]

4. Lol!

[House of Roberts]

3. 'If your family tree does not fork,

you might be a redneck!' - Jeff Foxworthy

[obamanut2012]

9. Jeff Foxworhy is a son of privilege, yet made fun of country folks and rednecks

[Mountainguy]

5. In reality there isnt a good reason for it to be illegal

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]

11. Hooray for incest!

[Ms. Toad]

6. We need to stop acting like this is some country bumpkin thing that only red states would permit.

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]

8. Yup, I said the same

[obamanut2012]

7. There is nothing wrong with that, and many states allow it

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]

10. Why would anyone want their Uncle or Aunt....

To become their Father or Mother-in-Law?

Yuck!