spreadeagle
February 29th, 2004, 04:08 AM
Incest laws have been devised to prevent inter-breeding between men and women who share too close a genetic heritage for fear of the birth defects and abnormalities that might result. Or because of religious belief, based on Leviticus, that marriage between kin more closely related than fourth-cousins violates God's law. Different societies have determined different definitions of incest. Only twenty-four American states prohibit marriage between first cousins.
Since you are both men, the likelihood of either of you becoming pregnant is negligible. Furthermore, your stepbrother's first cousin is not your first cousin - in fact he has no blood relationship to you at all (unless there has already been intermarriage between the two families in earlier generations in which case this issue will not be a new one to your relatives). If one of you were male and the other female your marriage would be perfectly legal. Since your family have already demonstrated their 'tolerance' of your sexual nature they can hardly turn around and discriminate against a homosexual relationship that they would be forced to accept if it were heterosexual.
Perhaps you are not as confident of their enliightenment as you would wish to be. In such circumstances it pays to prepare yourself by having the facts at your fingertips: type /incest kinship marriage united states/ into your search engine. Look up the statute defining eligibility for marriage in your state.
All the best mate,
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Since you are both men, the likelihood of either of you becoming pregnant is negligible. Furthermore, your stepbrother's first cousin is not your first cousin - in fact he has no blood relationship to you at all (unless there has already been intermarriage between the two families in earlier generations in which case this issue will not be a new one to your relatives). If one of you were male and the other female your marriage would be perfectly legal. Since your family have already demonstrated their 'tolerance' of your sexual nature they can hardly turn around and discriminate against a homosexual relationship that they would be forced to accept if it were heterosexual.
Perhaps you are not as confident of their enliightenment as you would wish to be. In such circumstances it pays to prepare yourself by having the facts at your fingertips: type /incest kinship marriage united states/ into your search engine. Look up the statute defining eligibility for marriage in your state.
All the best mate,
Spread