Florida's Legislature let a cousin marriage ban die on the table.
Then DeSantis walked into a bill signing and made sure everyone knew it.
What he said next connected two dots that most politicians in this country are still too scared to connect.
DeSantis Calls Out the Florida Legislature for Letting the First Cousin Marriage Ban Die
Ron DeSantis signed HB 1471 into law Monday in Tampa – legislation banning Sharia law from Florida courts and giving the state authority to designate domestic terrorist organizations.
Then he went off script.
"Florida doesn't ban cousin marriage," he said. "That's a hanging curveball for us to do. We need to do that. Other states have done it. I don't know why we wouldn't. But obviously, that feeds in to some of the stealth jihad that we see when you're allowing things like that."
https://twitter.com/news6wkmg/status/2041425782157803781?s=20
That's not a random tangent.
That's a governor who just finished signing an anti-Sharia bill pointing out that Florida still has a legal loophole that makes that bill harder to enforce.
The Legislature had a chance to close it.
HB 733 included language that would have added first cousins to Florida's existing list of prohibited incestuous marriages – the same list that already covers siblings, parents, nieces, and nephews.
The House and Senate both passed versions of the bill.
Then it died anyway after the legislative deadline passed.
DeSantis didn't forget.
Why First Cousin Marriage Is Legal in Florida and Common Across the Muslim World
Cousin marriage isn't some obscure rural tradition.
In large swaths of the Muslim world, it's a routine cultural expectation – and the numbers are staggering.
In Saudi Arabia, first-cousin marriages account for 42% to 67% of all unions depending on the region.
In Iraq, studies range from 24% to 71%. In Egypt, roughly 40% of marriages are between cousins.
In Qatar, Yemen, and the UAE, the rate is actually increasing in the current generation.
Cousin marriage is sanctioned under Islamic law – not a fringe reading of it, but mainstream Islamic jurisprudence going back centuries.
Britain found this out the hard way.
In 2008, Environment Minister Phil Woolas called cousin marriage within the Pakistani immigrant community the "elephant in the room" – pointing to dramatically elevated rates of genetic disorders in children born to first-cousin parents.
He was attacked for saying it, then promoted anyway, because you can't make those numbers disappear.
Sweden announced plans to ban first-cousin marriage outright, and Norway adopted a ban the same year, both citing public health grounds and concerns about immigrant community integration.
Florida's Legislature just let its own ban die.
The Special Session Window That Could Still Make Florida Ban Cousin Marriage
This was DeSantis's final regular Legislative session as governor.
But the window isn't closed.
The Legislature returns this month to pass a budget after failing to do so during the regular session.
DeSantis has also called a special session on redistricting, set to kick off April 20.
There's nothing preventing lawmakers from adding a cousin marriage ban to the agenda.
The governor has made clear he wants it. Both chambers already passed versions of the underlying language.
The only thing standing between Florida and the majority position – 25 states already ban first-cousin marriage outright – is whether Republican leadership in Tallahassee has the nerve to finish the job.
This state just told Sharia law it has no standing in a Florida courtroom.
Closing the cousin marriage loophole isn't a new fight. It's the same fight, one step further down the field.
DeSantis called it a hanging curveball.
The question now is whether the Legislature acts before his term ends – or hands his successor a problem that should have been solved in 2026.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Hanging Curveball: Gov. DeSantis Demands End to Cousin Marriage," Florida Politics, April 6, 2026.
- "DeSantis Signs Sharia Law Ban: What It Means for Florida Courts," Newsweek, April 6, 2026.
- "DeSantis Signs Bill Allowing State Designation of Domestic Terrorists, Restrictions on Sharia Law," WUFT, April 6, 2026.
- "Cousin Marriage in the Middle East," Wikipedia, accessed April 7, 2026.
- "Cousin Marriage Law in the United States," Wikipedia, accessed April 7, 2026.
