Kentucky Republican pushes bill to make sex with first cousin not incest
The bill would remove first cousins from the list of family members with whom it's illegal to have sexual relations in the state.
www.newsweek.com
A Kentucky Republican has introduced legislation that would amend the state's law so a person who had sex with their first cousin would no longer be criminally liable for incest.
House Bill 269, which state Representative Nick Wilson sponsored, was introduced on January 16 to the House Committee on Committees. According to the Kentucky General Assembly website, it would strike "first cousin from the list of familial relationships" defined as unlawful incest in the state. The amendment would also reduce the designation of incest by contact to a Class D felony for some cases "unless it is committed with a person who is less than twelve years of age," in which case it is Class C.
Wilson, then a 27-year-old public defender, first shot to prominence when he won the 37th season of the CBS reality TV show Survivor in 2018, called Survivor: David vs. Goliath, before returning for the 40th season, featuring the winners from previous shows in 2020. In November 2022, Wilson ran unopposed for the 82nd District of the Kentucky House after Republican incumbent Regina Huff retired.
Kentucky law states that a person is guilty of incest if they engage in sexual relations with a person they know to be "his or her parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandparent, great-grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, brother, sister, first cousin, ancestor, or descendent." The amendment introduced by Wilson, if passed, would remove first cousin from this list.
It would also alter Kentucky law on parole for violent offenders to include a person "who has been convicted of incest by sexual contact" within the definition.
Newsweek reached out to Wilson via email for comment.
Wilson's bill was called "truly insane" by Eliza Orlins, a New York public defender who previously appeared as a contestant on Survivor: Vanuatu and Survivor: Micronesia.
In a nearly two minute TikTok video, also shared on her X account, Orlins said: "Oh my God I've got some wild news...This news relates to David vs. Goliath winner of Survivor Nick Wilson, who then leveraged the fame he obtained from winning Survivor to run for Kentucky state legislator and got elected.
"Nick Wilson is not only supporting but has introduced a bill that would reclassify incest in the state of Kentucky to not include your own first cousin. Kentucky, like so many other places, is facing a lot of issues, and this is Nick's top legislative priority."
Nick Wilson at the "Survivor: David Vs. Goliath" finale on December 19, 2018, in Los Angeles. The state rep. introduced legislation to remove first cousins from Kentucky incest law. Rodin Eckenroth/GETTY
Orlins urged her followers to "reach out to anyone you know in Kentucky and tell them to flood his office [with phone calls] and make this story known."
In August 2021, webcomic creator and YouTuber Christine Weston Chandler, also known as Chris Chan, was arrested on a charge of incest in Virginia and later caused a stir by stamping their feet repeatedly in court to disrupt proceedings. The case was dismissed in August 2023.
French survivors of incest spoke out online in January 2021 using the hashtag #MeTooInceste after prominent lawyer Camille Kouchner alleged that her stepfather, a high-profile political scientist, sexually abused her as a child.
