A bill aiming to ban marriage between first cousins failed to pass in the Florida Senate as the lawmakers ran out of time in the legislative session. State Representative Dean Black, who championed the bill, hoped that it would be taken up in near future by the lawmakers. “There are plenty of people here, and there are plenty of people you can find to be your lifelong partner without looking to your first cousin,” Black told Action News Jax.
The bill said: “A man may not marry any woman to whom he is related by lineal consanguinity…A woman may not marry any man to whom she is related by lineal consanguinity.” Incestuous marriages entered into after July 1 would not be recognized “for any purpose in this state,” if the legislation had passed, according to the bill’s text.
