The Scottish Parliament debated legalising incest today, despite a petition calling for it attracting no signatures at all.
A loophole in devolution law requires parliamentarians to debate any petition calling for a change in the law.
So when Richard Morris, who lives in Australia, lobbied for the bizarre law change, they had no option but to discuss it.
He called for it to be legal for consenting family members aged 21 or over to have sex with one another.
The public petitions committee swiftly and unanimously threw the petition out, agreeing there was "no public interest" in taking it forward.
In his petition, he wrote: "Public fears, prejudice and bigotry about ACI [Adult Consenting Incest] are mostly due to ignorance created over many years mostly by the church and church-influenced governments and newspapers, in much the same way as public fears and bigotry about homosexuality were created.
“In general, societies have a tendency to target isolated individuals and to attack anything perceived to be different as a threat."
According to the Daily Record, Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw said: "Having read the detail of the petition I don't think an argument is made that would justify a public interest being served in this petition continuing."
After the meeting Mr McMahon said: "I recognise the petition addressed a subject matter that many people find abhorrent. Speaking personally, I take a similar view.
"However, all petitions that fall within the Committee's rules must be given our open and transparent consideration.
"A 2007 report by the Law Society of Scotland gave no support for a change in the law and as such the Committee agreed that pursuing this issue is not in the public interest."
The committee took less than a minute to dismiss the petition.
Mr Morris chose not to attend the committee hearing to give evidence.
He claims to have almost finished writing a book about incest, and campaigned on behalf of a Scottish man convicted of incest with his daughter - a crime which carries a two-year prison term if both parties are consenting.
He also says he wrote to the Queen to ask for a Royal Pardon for all people convicted of Incest in the UK.
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