Supporters of consensual incest are advocating for the taboo arrangement to be decriminalized after the recent story about an anonymous New York couple suing to have the state’s anti-incest laws overturned.
Richard Morris, an Australian man who wants the incest laws in approximately 60 countries changed, supports the New York couple’s lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court and believes incestuous relationships between consenting adults “should not be criminalized,” according to the New York Post.
Morris and other pro-incest advocates are responsible for about 130 petitions that are trying to change anti-incest laws around the world.
“We haven’t moved any mountains yet,” Morris said, acknowledging that such petitions have not proven very popular so far.
The New York Post further reported:
Morris was inspired to fight for those in consenting incestual relationships, he said, after learning about a Scottish case in which a long-separated father and daughter were reunited, started an affair and were then criminally convicted.
Fighting for true “marriage equality” is “the right thing to do, isn’t it?” Morris said.
“It seems to be as unjust as the law that used to imprison gay people, and the law that used to stop people of different races marrying,” he added.
“It is absurd to say that an adult can’t consent to marry their parent,” Morris continued. “That same adult can be sent to war, take on six or seven figures of debt, operate heavy machinery, be sentenced to death by a federal court, and consent to sex with five strangers (and marriage with one of them) but can’t consent to marry someone they love? In some of these cases, the genetic parent didn’t raise them and they met for the first time two years ago. Allegations of ‘grooming’ are laughable attempts to deny someone their rights even though it will have no impact on the person objecting.”
The case of the New York couple made headlines last week after a parent who wants to marry his or her adult child is suing to overturn New York’s laws against incest for the sake of “individual autonomy.”As The Daily Wire reported:
The person who filed the lawsuit chose to remain anonymous because they seek the legal right to “an action that a large segment of society views as morally, socially and biologically repugnant,” according to court papers filed earlier this month in Manhattan Federal Court and obtained by the New York Post.
“Through the enduring bond of marriage, two persons, whatever relationship they might otherwise have with one another, can find a greater level of expression, intimacy and spirituality,” the parent further argued.
The filing, which is intentionally vague regarding the parties involved, specified that “the proposed spouses” are adults, a biological parent and child, and unable to procreate together.
Incest is a third-degree felony in New York and punishable with up to four years in prison. Incestuous marriages are considered void and potentially subject to a fine and jail time.
Related: ‘Individual Autonomy’: Parent Seeking To Marry Adult Child Sues To Overturn NY Anti-Incest Laws