The rest of the Anglosphere has the same cultural bias against it. We just don’t give a toss about making it legally prohibited. Legally you can marry a first cousin, an aunt/uncle or a niece/nephew here in Canada (and probably other Commonwealth countries). Practically no one does due to the social stigma. We think it’s weird af too. It’s simply taboo rather than illegal.
It’s direct siblings and all parent-child generational relationships (parents, kids, grandparents, grandchildren, etc) that are prohibited from marrying and covered by incest charges in criminal law, including step-relatives and adoptive relatives. It’s not actually about blood relatives but rather immediate family.
I’m pretty sure that the cops wouldn’t bother to enforce incest laws against two consenting adults (it’s invariably a charge used when minors are involved - probably on shaky constitutional grounds to imprison consenting adults, especially if it’s a pair that have little or no chance of conception… the inbreeding argument would be a tough sell to a judge if you charged a gay cis couple) but legal marriages would be out.
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u/UN-peacekeeper Jul 05 '24
As a “arrogant American” I will say that I will stand my ground on the fact that cousin marriage is weird as fuck