It's Loving Day!
Today, June 12 marks the 47th Anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Loving v. Virginia that state laws prohibiting marriage between two people of different races was a violation of the constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Interestingly enough, Virginia's law only applied to couples in which one of the party's was white.
Richard and Mildred Loving were married in Washington, D.C. in 1958. As improbable as it may seem, the couple recounted that about a month later, after they had returned to their home state of Virginia, police actually busted into their bedroom and inquired of them what they were doing together (apparently the police were called by an upset neighbor). When the couple explained that they were legally wed, they were taken into custody and actually spent time in jail.
When they were brought before a judge, the Lovings were charged with violation of Virginia's Racial Integrity Act, and both were given a one-year prison sentence. The sentence was suspended, though, when they agreed to a plea deal which forbad the couple from physically entering into the state of Virginia together for 25 years...that's right, one quarter of a century!
It took nine long years to appeal their conviction, but on June 12, 1967, SCOTUS unanimously ruled that all state anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional.
In the decision that was handed down, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote, in part,
The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.
To me, there are so many parallels between the fight against the old anti-miscegenation laws and today's fight for equal marriage rights for same-gender couples. The link provided here (http://www.slate.com/...) enumerates those similarities.
Also, in June 2007, on the 40th anniversary of that landmark decision (less than a year before her death), Mildred Loving wrote of her support of marriage freedom for gay people:
I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry... I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about.
Amen, sister!
Happy Loving Everybody! :-)