Married Cousins Petition to Have Their Marriage Recognized in Utah

If you know someone whose parents are your parents; brother or sister, then that makes them your cousin.

And if you have a cousin, you probably spend the holidays together. Or go on bike rides with them. Or gossip about weird Aunt Sally. But you probably don’t have a romantic connection with them, sine they’re family.

Dating your cousin isn’t the norm, but it does still happen. In fact, sometimes they even get married. And one cousin-couple who did this would like their marriage to be recognized in the state where they live: Utah.

Meet Angie and Michael Lee. Angie’s father is the oldest of 12 children—the same group of people that Michael’s mother is a part of. So yes: Angie’s father and Michael’s mother are brother and sister. That makes Angie and Michael cousins.

The two grew up together and say they’ve loved each other for many years. And they’re currently making headlines by petitioning for the right to get married.

“We said OK this is crazy but we’re adults now, we’re single now, we’re just going to go for it and who cares what our family thinks,” Angie said.

They actually already got married in Colorado, where there aren’t any laws against cousins tying the knot. However, there’s a law in Utah that forbids first cousins from getting married unless they are 65 years old (or 55 if they can prove they’re infertile).

“We would like to have enough exposure to where we can go into a congressman or senator, someone with political clout and present a case sound enough to get the law changed,” Angie said.

And Michael’s got some things to say about the situation too: “No one I’ve ever been with will make me feel as perfect as she does,” he said. “Her being my cousin and some of the responses is a small price to pay.”

To hear from the quirky couple themselves, and to hear more on why marrying your cousin isn’t recommended, check out the video below.

What are your thoughts on cousins getting married? Do you think Angie and Michael’s marriage should be made official in Utah?