As Seen on Facebook: States That Allow You to Marry Your Cousin — but not Your Partner

Two playful, color-coded maps of the United States are making the rounds on Facebook this week. The first depicts “States That Allow Gay Marriage” and the second, “States Where You Can Marry Your Cousin.” Massachusetts is one of three states that allows both. The juxtaposition is witty and — as far as gay marriage goes — the impact is powerful, but so is the implication that cousin-marriages are unsavory.

In case you missed the pic fly by your News Feed:

Image via Facebook

My question is this: Is it really any of our business what others do with their personal lives? I suspect first cousin marriages have been used here because of the heated debate about “birth defect” risks, and yet even the assumption that marriage automatically involves children seems unfair.

While I enjoy the sass of this Facebook trend, let’s not to take it too seriously. Being tolerant to one group at the expense of another doesn’t better humankind.