Current Iowa law does not allow cousins to marry. I assume two cousins can enter into any other legal contract. The restriction of cousins marrying in Iowa assumes genetic reproduction, and therefore could not apply to same sex couples. So how could two gay cousins be prevented from marrying? I can't wait for those lawsuits to start.
Some states allow cousin marriage if both parties are past childbearing years, or if one party is sterile. If that is not a violation of equal protection, I do not know what is. But, if marriage is not a right, no violation of equal protection should exist.
If marriage is a right, and just like any other contract, there is no reason siblings cannot marry, or parents marry their own children.
In fact, if marriage is a right, why can't a widower marry his single daughter, therefore avoiding probate and estate issues?
It's a shame you weren't on the legal team in Iowa trying to defend Marriage. Your point make more sense than they way they tried to argue.
If, as a society, we don't have the right to define "marriage" as between a man and a woman, then by what right can we define it at all?
It's open season now... I'm rather fond of my neighbor's spotted sheep. :-)
New York law DOES allow first cousins to marry. Same for Massachusetts, I believe.