Survivor's Nick Wilson, who is now a lawmaker in Kentucky, recently made a statement to clarify an apparent mistake that he claimed to have made. The 33-year-old, who has been in Kentucky's House since 2023, filed a bill on January 16, 2024, that would lead to the legalization of sex between first cousins, which he is now pointing out was a mistake.
The initial filing of the bill ended up going viral and being heavily criticized, to which Nick then addressed as being an error in the filing process on his end.
"I filed HB 269 yesterday. The purpose of the bill is to add 'sexual contact' to the incest statute," he said in a Facebook post. "Currently, incest only applies in cases of intercourse. So sexual touching/groping by uncles, stepdads or anyone with a familial relationship is not included in incest. My bill makes that kind of sexual contact a Class D Felony, unless the victim is under the age of 12, then it increases the penalty to a Class C Felony."
"During the drafting process, there was an inadvertent change, which struck 'first cousins' from the list of relationships included under the incest statute, and I failed to add it back in," he continued. "During today’s session, I will withdraw HB 269 and refile a bill with the 'first cousin' language intact."
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"The fact that I was able to file a bill, catch the mistake, withdraw the bill and refile within a 24 hour period shows that we have a good system," Nick stated. According to the Kentucky General Assembly's website, the bill was withdrawn during the session on January 17.
"This is a bill to combat a problem of familial and cyclical abuse that transcends generations of Kentuckians," his post concluded. "I understand that I made a mistake, but I sincerely hope my mistake doesn’t hurt the chances of the corrected version of the bill. It is a good bill, and I hope it will get a second chance."
People took to the comments to share their opinions on Nick's mistake.
"This is why editing, re-editing and re-reading (sometimes out loud) matters," someone wrote. "Please do better. Please get a better staff."
"This breaks my heart that you’re receiving so much hate over a mistake and so many are missing the entire point," another person commented. "Prayers for you Nick Wilson. God will take care of you ❤️ Trust him."
Later that afternoon, Nick shared an update to his Facebook. "House Bill 289 adds 'sexual contact' to incest, applies a penalty to such conduct, and adds incest to the violent offender statute. This bill makes NO other changes to current law."
The post also included a link to the Kentucky General Assembly's website that had a copy of the amended bill, showing that "first cousins" was now included. However, it appears as though he's still catching quite a lot of flak. "There is something seriously wrong with you," someone commented.
Nick won Survivor: David vs. Goliath in 2018 and returned for Survivor: Winners at War in 2020. In March 2023, he received backlash for supporting the controversial SB 150, which includes a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth.
