Loving v. Virginia
"Marriage is one of the 'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival... To deny this fundamental freedom... is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law."
This statement was first issued in 1967 during the landmark civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute unconstitutional and thereby ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. This case was also known as "Loving v. Virginia" and I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know much about it before last week and the protest against Prop 8 that happened downtown.
As the story goes, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in Washington DC in June, 1958. They were residents of Virginia and had to leave the state to get married because of the Racial Integrity Act which forbade marriage between any white and non-white person. When they returned home, police invaded their house hoping to find them having sex (another crime) but instead caught them in bed. Mildred pointed to the wedding certificate on the wall as her defense and that's all the evidence they needed to charge them. On January 6, 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty and were sentenced to one year in prison, with the sentence suspended 25 years as long as they left the state of Virginia.
In 40 years, some things are still the same.
While it's true that interracial marriages are now legal in the United States (thank God), there are still many people denied the right to marry the person they love, if the person they love is the same sex. Like Mildred and Richard, there's the option to go to a state where same-sex marriage is legal, but the rights that go with that end when the couple leaves the state, and they are left with whatever their home state sees fit as the definition of marriage. In 44 of the 50 states, that marriage isn't legal.
The tide is changing, though. Two days ago, same-sex marriage wasn't legal in 45 of 50 states but yesterday New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage and help take the stigma away from what should be a blessed union. There's still a lot of work to be done and decisions like that of the California State Supreme Court to uphold an amendment like Proposition 8 slows down the progress... but it's happening nonetheless.
I had a conversation today with a woman who has an 19-year-old daughter who is also a lesbian. She's worried for her daughter because she has no problem sharing her sexuality in a frank way, she's engaged in a same-sex relationship, and she's just not cautious enough when she goes out. She fears for those who would try to harm her daughter simply because of her homosexuality, but I'm touched at how "normal" her sexuality is for her. She's not caught up in the stigma and trappings of trying to live "straight" and she believes in the reality of eventually getting married and having children and a home. That's the direction this country is moving in and eventually we will arrive at a day when people can be themselves with the promise of equality and without fear of abuse.
Before she died, Mildred Loving issued a public statement prepared for delivery on the 40th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia decision. The concluding paragraphs of her statement read as follows:
"Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don't think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the "wrong kind of person" for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people's religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people's civil rights."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."
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