06.11.07

Loving Day, June 12

Posted in Affirmation, Musings, Soapbox, Wedding at 11:36 pm by trueepicure

Sometimes I forget that I live in the South. Today was a strange reminder of where I live, and a happy reminder of when.

I’ve been doing the typical whine and moan about getting my wedding put together. It’s hard to plan a wedding for 100+ people, work full-time, and have personal time. As I was listening to NPR today, I realize that I am SO lucky to be able to get married at all.

Prior to June 12, 1967, it would have been illegal for E and I to get married in the State of Virginia. Anti-miscegenation laws forbade people of different races from getting married. In Virginia, and many other states, interracial couples could be, and had been, thrown in jail (and worse, though not legally) for loving each other and being married. Worse things happened as well, and it’s really just kind of scary to think about.

On June 12, 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional and overturned existing laws barring interracial marriage. The outcome of Loving v. Virginia meant that not only could people living in the United States marry someone of another race, but they couldn’t be rousted from their bedroom in the middle of the night and thrown into jail for doing so Unfortunately, though the laws were overturned, some states had anti-miscegenation laws “on the books” until as recently as 2000.

For a moment, as I was sitting in the car, listening to the story of the Loving family and their success at making the world an easier place to live in, I had a happy moment. I thought about my parents who got married in 1965, and how trailblazing they were, even in New York City, and I thought about my feisty Norwegian grandmother in North Dakota who told her friends that they were just going to have to get used to the idea of a black man in the family. And I thought about E and I standing at our wedding, being blissfully, happily married in the State of Virginia.

I would like to dedicate this Loving Day to gay people in the United States who are having to struggle with some of the same issues. There is no sensible reason why ANYone should be denied the reason to marry the person they love. None.

Peace.

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