Can two brothers now marry each other in California?

Not that I'm aware. California still discriminates on the basis of consanguinity, even though it is impossible for two brothers to create a child with genetic defects (or any child at all).

@xanzibar re "incest is wrong": Stop imposing your morality on others!

"California’s obligation is to treat its citizens equally, not to

'mandate [its] own moral code.'" (pg. 133 of the ruling)

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/TVNews/...

@magpieix re: "The exact same legal basis for overturning the gay marriage ban applies to banning incestous marriage between same sex siblings (i.e. heterosexual siblings cannot marry, therefore gay siblings can't either)"

That doesn't make any sense because heterosexuals were equally banned from marrying people of the same sex (i.e., heterosexual people cannot marry someone of the same sex, therefore gay people can't either).

I believe as of right now, two brothers COULD marry each other in California. The California law banning incest specifically identifies the banned relationships as being brother/sister, aunt/nephew, uncle/niece, descendants and ancestors. None of the defined forms of incest include brother/brother, uncle/nephew, aunt/niece or sister/sister.

Whether the law is worded as it is because same-sex couples couldn't legally marry before or because there is no risk of offspring issues in same-sex 'incest' or simply because nobody thought to include it, I don't know.

I suspect that there will be some changes to the incest laws to clarify the situation. It wouldn't bother me if they were to marry, but it would make for some very confusing family trees.

Can Gays Get Married In California

No. Two brothers cannot marry because incest is still illegal. However, the argument can be made that the only logical reason against that is the possibility of coercion and abuse, since procreation is impossible, and if they're two legal adults capable of consenting to whatever relationship they want to be in (even if it's abusive... I've yet to see the courts force an abusive couple to divorce...) then there's no legal reason why two brothers cannot marry.

And why would two brothers marry? It may have nothing to do with sex. They can argue they love one another, that they want all the legal benefits (sharing of property, medical coverage, legal heir, etc) and since you can't prove they're having sex, why not? If they're both bachelors they'd have everything to gain.

I honestly don't know. Good question.

I'm *pretty sure* the laws about closeness of relation for couples applying for a marriage license are "sexuality neutral" -- they're simply written such that it's not legal for siblings to marry. Since those prohibitions are largely based on the possibility of genetic problems with potential offspring, that reasoning would be irrelevant for two brothers...

Lots of things to work out when the law gets "updated." Nobody will probably bother with this one until two brothers (or two sisters) present themselves for a marriage license (if that ever happens).

Peace.

INCEST??????

Why are so many people going on about incest?

It is biologically impossible for two brothers to commit incest!

Personally, I do not care what else they may get up to. And I cannot actually answer the question - I do not know what the law in California says.

A brother and a sister cannot currently marry, so I see no reason why two brothers could.

Why not. Anyone of the same sex can get married in some states and don't have to prove theyre homos. (2) old farts may want to get married for tax benefits. There will be a special vow that they would take "we are not getting married to have sex, but are getting married because homos are allowed to get married and we are discriminated against".

Homos are homos because theyre already having luid sex acts.

Hmmm, that's a good question.

Probably not, but the main taboo about incest is producing children from an incestuous union. That's obviously not going to happen with a same sex marriage. The other taboo about incest is that it often involves child abuse. If gay marriage is legal, I can't see what logical reason there would be to not allow gay adult siblings to marry.

Has a can of worms been opened?

Was it previously ok for a brother and sister to marry each other in California? You have your answer.

And just so we're clear, allowing gay marriage does not allow people to marry ducks or rocks or cars.