A Kentucky lawmaker and winner of the 2018 TV show “Survivor” was forced to quickly withdraw a bill that, if approved, would have legalized unintentional sex between cousins.
After correcting the gaffe within a day, Kentucky House Republican Rep. Nick Wilson expressed hope that the gaffe would not doom a bill aimed at combating family abuse.
Mr Wilson told the Guardian on Thursday that the whole episode was “frustrating” and “embarrassing”.
“It was obviously very embarrassing given the nature of the bill,” Wilson said. “It was also frustrating that just because I appeared on a TV show five years ago, my reputation was ruined so quickly.
“We were never given a single opportunity to right that wrong. I think most members of Congress will be given that opportunity.”
Wilson introduced a bill on Tuesday that proposes to effectively remove cousins from the list of illegal incestuous relationships.
When Eliza Orlins, a New York state public defender and Survivor alumnus, criticized Wilson's proposal on TikTok, there was immediate backlash.
“Kentucky, like many other places, faces many challenges, and this is Nick's top legislative priority,” Orlins said. Said. “No matter what Nick’s weird priorities are, your voice matters, and when your voice is heard, it actually impacts local politics.”
After wishing her TikTok viewers a great day, she directly addressed Wilson. “Nick Wilson, I hope you have the day you deserve,” she said.
Wilson then reversed course and said it was an unintentional “mistake” to exclude cousins from the list of relationships that Kentucky law defines as incest if they involve sex.
“During the draft process [of the bill]”There was an inadvertent change that removed 'cousin' from the list of relationships included in the incest statute and failed to add it back,” Wilson said. statement. “I will withdraw during today’s session.” [the measure] Then resubmit the invoice, leaving the “cousin” wording as is. ”
Many U.S. states, including Kentucky, have outright bans on first-cousin marriages, while 19 states and the District of Columbia have To give permission Such a union. Some states, such as Arizona and Maine, allow first cousin marriages, with certain exceptions.
kentucky Define Incest is “deviant sexual intercourse” [or] Sexual contact with someone known to the person to be a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandparent, great-great-grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, brother, sister, cousin, ancestor, or descendant.”
Wilson then resubmitted the measure as follows: Housing bill 289. In addition to sexual intercourse, the bill also adds “sexual contact” to the definition of incest.
The reintroduced bill also adds incest to the Violent Offenders Act.
Wilson said the new bill makes no other changes to current law.
After making the amendments to the bill, Mr Wilson said: “This is a bill to combat the problem of intergenerational familial and cyclical abuse of Kentuckians. I understand that I made a mistake, but my mistake is not corrected in the revised version of the bill. I really hope it doesn't hurt its chances. This is a good bill and I hope it gets a second chance.”
Ms Wilson also told the Guardian that she hoped the scrutiny she received would lead to greater awareness of the issue of domestic sexual abuse.
“Many foster parents and survivors of sexual abuse have expressed their gratitude for moving this legislation forward,” Wilson said. “The amount of hope that came from those calls and emails far outweighed any feelings of embarrassment and frustration I experienced over the past two days.”
Wilson previously served as a public defender and ran unopposed for the state House of Representatives in 2022 to represent the 82nd District. He competed on the reality show “Survivor” in 2018 and 2020 and became the champion of the competition in the 37th season.
