Cousin Marriage vs. Gay Marriage

Statistics reveal that more U.S. states allow cousins to marry than same-sex couples.

Of the 50 states, 19 (including California, Alaska, New York, and Florida) permit restriction-free marriages between first cousins, while only five (Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, plus the District of Columbia) allow people to marry someone of the same sex.

Marriage between cousins, while once commonly practiced in Europe as a way to preserve royal bloodlines, is much more stigmatized in the United States, despite high-profile first cousin marriage participants such as Charles Darwin, H.G. Wells, and Albert Einstein.

Two states, Vermont and Massachusetts, offer marriage rights to both cousins and same-sex couples.

Read more here.