Transgender Day of Visibility 2018

Transgender people are everywhere. If you think you've never met a transgender person or shared a restroom with someone who is transgender, you're almost certainly wrong. You just didn't realize.

We want transgender people to know: You are welcome here. We care. We will continue to speak up for your rights.

Bea Mitchell Asks Some Good Questions

An article at pinknews.co.uk by Bea Mitchell is headlined with "Why can't gay or lesbian twins have sex with or marry each other? Why is incest wrong between same-sex siblings?"

To which we say:

1) Some do.
2) They should be free to.
3) It's not.

But let's get to what's actually in the article.

For one, incest is illegal/frowned upon/no good because of inbreeding. Children of biologically-related parents have a higher possibility of congenital birth defects.

That's Discredited Argument #18.

Although some anthropologists have argued that incest taboos are learned social conventions, they point out that even animals and plants have evolved and developed mechanisms to prevent incest.

Some have. Some are more likely to mate with close relatives.

It’s not just that it seems utterly grim to shag your relative.

Maybe for you. Not for everyone. For some people, that's what seems the best. Some people are consanguinamorous in orientation.

In many places, sleeping with one’s sibling is punishable by prison time, though others argue that ‘consensual incest’ is a victimless crime – providing the sex/relationship takes place between consenting adults.

It IS a victimless crime, where outlawed. No place should outlaw it.

Incest laws also exist in order to protect children from sexually abusive parents and older relatives.

Uh, child molestation is illegal apart from anti-consanguinmamory laws.

That said, in the interest of fairness and equality, if gay or lesbian siblings/twins fall in love and are legally allowed to marry or have sex, it’s not really fair if straight siblings/twins aren’t given the same rights just because some of them can reproduce.

Lets consenting adults have their relationships. It's that simple!

Where would the line be drawn?

Consenting adults.

She kept going back to the same discredited argument, which doesn't apply if they are unable to reproduce.

I was happy to see the article, though, because more and more people are realizing there's no good reason to deny full marriage equality.

Florida Keeps Prosecuting Consenting Adults

It's not a crime to give birth to a child with health problems, but it is treated like a crime when genetic tests reveal that the child's parents are relatives who are "too" close. Here's an article from dailycommercial.com about such a case...

A Groveland woman was arrested for having an incestuous relationship with her brother after she gave birth to a child with serious medical problems.

Notice she was arrested for consensual (to be redundant) sex.

According to an arrest affidavit, Pauline Elizabeth Martin, 33, gave birth on Nov. 21, and doctors quickly transferred the baby to Winnie Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando because it needed specialized care.

That's too bad. It's interesting that the article doesn't specify the details of the specialized care.

Hospital officials called the Florida Department of Children and Families to investigate because genetic testing revealed the baby’s parents were close relatives.

Medical privacy only goes so far.

Simple and Quick Clarification on Consanguinamory and Having Children

At lehmiller.com we found "Kissing Cousins: How Does Incest Affect The Health of Offspring" and we wanted to share what it says.

In a nutshell, inbreeding increases the odds of rare genetic disorders because the more closely related two people are, the more likely it is that they’ll both be carriers of the same recessive genes, which gives these genes a chance of pairing up.

However, it’s important to note that even if both parents are carriers of disorder-linked recessive genes, odds are that their offspring will not develop the disorder. In other words, while inbreeding increases this risk, it’s not guaranteed.

Emphasis ours. The fact is, most children born to close relatives are healthy. It's also important to remember that consanguinamory and inbreeding aren't the same thing, though inbreeding can result from consanguinamory.

Then the blog has a YouTube video from ASAP Science on the topic.

For more, please see our entry on Consanguinamory and Reproduction and this entry for consanguinamorists considering parenting.

Update on Oklahoma Prosecution of Consenting Adults

Here's an update to a case we last covered in this entry. Kathleen Joyce's report was found at foxnews.com...

An Oklahoma mother who married her daughter after the two “hit it off” was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison after pleading guilty to incest.

Patricia Ann Spann, 45, of Norman, Okla., pleaded guilty to the felony offense and admitted she married her biological daughter, 26-year-old Misty Velvet Dawn Spann. She must also register as a sex offender after her release from prison, the Oklahoman reported.

Why is she going to prison and why will she be on a registry? She's no threat to anyone.

Spann said she thought the marriage to her daughter was legal because she had lost custody of her and two sons years ago, and she is not listed on their birth certificates.

Prosecutors said Spann also married one of her sons in 2008 but the marriage was annulled in 2010 due to incest, the Associated Press reported.

Misty Spann pleaded guilty to incest in November in exchange for probation. However, her plea was withdrawn when it was determined she had been given a deferred sentence, which is not allowed under state law.

Outrageous.

It was also covered at bbc.com...

Under state law, marriage to a close relative is considered incest, regardless of whether a sexual relationship exists.

If adults agree to have sex, let them. If they agree to marry, let them. If they agree to have a sexless marriage, let them. What a waste of public resources it is to criminally prosecute them. There's no good reason to deny them their right to marry, and consanguinamory shouldn't be a crime.

“Could We Still Get in Trouble?”

A comment by “Thomas” was left on one of our most popular entries, about aunts and nephews.

Me and my aunt have a wonderful relationship. We are best friends, also lovers and have been for quite some time. We live in Connecticut where marriage is illegal but we don't want to get married. Could we still get in trouble for being in a relationship? 

First of all, congratulations on your love. May it increase and endure. Consanguinamory is a beautiful thing.

The short answer, unfortunately, is yes. You could still get in trouble.

However, the odds are in your favor and you can make them even better.

For now, it remains illegal in Connecticut for aunts and their adult nephews to have sex.

But most people in these relationships are never prosecuted.

While most people in these relationships are never even arrested for consanguinamory, the larger problem is that harassment, oppression, and discrimination are enabled by criminalization. Criminalization also prevents things like getting effective counseling and therapy, among so many other things.

There is no good reason you shouldn't be free to be open about your relationship and free to marry. We need full marriage equality nationwide. But until then, you need to be careful. If moving to a country where consanguinamory isn't criminalized, or the states of Rhode Island or New Jersey, makes sense, you might want to do that.

Thomas, we'd love to hear more about your relationship. Know that you or anyone in a similar position can contact me via email at Fullmarriageequality at protonmail dot com

It's outrageous that consenting adults have to hide that they love each other, but that's where we still are as society. While some other people can be open and honest about their relationships and love lives, you have to be careful. Here are a couple of more links that might help you protect yourself:

How to Pull Off Living Together

Keeping the Closet Door Closed
You may have some advice or tips we haven't thought about, so please share them below in the comments or by email.

Update From A Favorite Author

Anonymous asked on this blog's sister Tubmlr about Diane Rinella, so there's a short update there.

Support the Rights of All Women

Have you been observing International Women's Day?

All women should be free to be themselves, to have their basic human and civil rights, whether they are cisgender, transgender, or noncomforming or fluid; whether they are asexual, heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, polysexual, or pansexual; whether they are aromantic, celibate, monogamous, or ethically nonmonogamous. Whether their relationships are exogamous, endogamous, or consanguineous. Whether they are questioning or they are certain. Whether they are raising children or have raised children or not. Whether they are a married or partnered or single.

A woman, regardless of her birth, sexual orientation, relationship orientation, race, or religion, should be free to share love, sex, residence, and marriage (and any of those without the others) with ANY and ALL consenting adults, without fear of prosecution, bullying, shaming, or discrimination.

(Same goes for any other adults, too.)

Florida is Still Prosecuting Consenting Adults

The overwhelming majority of consanguinamorous relationships never result in an arrest or prosecution. In fact, right now, as you read this, there are people engaged in consanguinamory not too far from where you are, whether you like that or not. Unfortunately, sometimes people aren't as careful as they should be.

The latest case getting international media coverage is from the state of Florida. Much weird news comes out of Florida, but this is weird primarily in that consenting adults are being prosecuted for consensual (to be redundant) sex.

From wtvy.com...

According to Panama City arrest records, a father and daughter were arrested Tuesday and charged with incest.

Police arrested Justin Bunn, 39, and Taylor Bunn, 19.

So they are consenting adults.

Police arrest records state the father and daughter were witnessed having sex in their backyard on Wakulla Avenue in Panama City.

So someone ratted them out. We don't know the condition of the backyard. Did the neighbors have to strain to see them or not? Depending on the condition of the backyard, I could see issuing them a warning or a ticket, but charging them with a serious crime is ridiculous and a waste of resources. The neighbors should have gone to them sometime later and requested they be more discreet, rather than ratting them out. Notice the charge isn't for public exposure.

Consent is THE Issue

In the US, we’re currently seeing what happens when people disregard consent one way: by sexually harassing, assaulting, or molesting someone. People are speaking up about how predatory people did certain things to them even though they did not consent.

On the flip side, we have laws and widely held bigotries that disregard consent when they criminalize and otherwise discriminate against adults who are consenting to their relationships.

Consent needs to be respected both ways.

If adults mutually consent to something with each other, whether it is one driving the other to dinner, a hug, a kiss, touching, a sex act, something involving BDSM, then nobody else should interfere uninvited. And if there is no mutual agreement, nobody should be harassed or coerced into doing something.

Why is this so hard to understand?

Respect consent!!!

A Loving Young Couple Denied Their Right to Marry

People in consanguinamorous relationships are everywhere, though consanguinamorists tend to be closeted. Fortunately, some are willing to be interviewed for this blog. As a result, Full Marriage Equality has featured scores of exclusive interviews with lovers are denied the freedom to be open about their love and are, by law, denied the freedom to marry and have that marriage treated equally under the law.

The man and woman interviewed below should be free to legally marry, yet they can't, and they could be imprisoned and have their lives ruined if they were outed to the wrong people. They are consenting adults who aren't hurting anyone; why should they be denied their rights? In much of the world, including all but a a few US states, they could be criminally prosecuted for their love

Read the interview below and see for yourself what this brother has to say, and what his sister also offers. You may think this relationship is interesting, or it might make you uncomfortable, or you might find it ideal, even highly erotic and romantic, but whatever your reaction, should these lovers be denied equal access to marriage or any other rights simply because they enjoy what we call double love?


WARNINGS: Self-harm and mildly explicit sexuality.
*****

FULL MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Describe yourselves.

Anonymous Brother: We are Caucasian, American, living in a suburban area in the South-Eastern United States. No, not Alabama, that’s a stereotype! Slender body forms, brown hair, sometimes dark-dirty-blonde, our eyes change color, not a drastic change, just a slight hue shift. We feel it’s linked to mood and  possibly environment. Looking into each other’s eyes now, both pairs are nearly the same greyish-blue-green shade, with trails of golden-brown etching out from the pupils. This is the shade each other’s eyes have, most often, when we look. We both require corrective lenses to see well.

Contrary to stereotypes encompassing incest and those who are engaging in it, we come from a family of attorneys, high-ranking members of the criminal justice system, and even a few legislative politicians.

I’m almost 23, 5’ 11” tall. I’m a filmmaker, producer, and business owner. I was told I got above average scores on my IQ evaluations, which I took in my adolescent years. I have a high school diploma, technical college degree, and various independent certifications.

Anonymous Sister: I’ll be 21 soon. I am attending a four-year college and working as well. Some personal physical characteristics I have are short hair - well short for a female - about down to my ears. I am about 5’5”. Unlike my brother, a actually have a butt, he’s a flat-back. I have small breasts, which I’ve always been insecure about, along with a lot of other things I don’t like about myself. I don’t tell my brother though because he’ll spend hours telling me I’m wrong.

AB: She has a beautiful body and even more beautiful mind. Sweet smile and cute laugh. She graduated high school in the top ten of her class.