In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving committed a felony when they traveled from their native Virginia to Washington DC in order to marry one another (at the time it was not legal for them to marry in Virginia because they were not of the same race). A few days later, back in Virginia, they were arrested in their own bedroom in the middle of the night by police claiming the two were guilty of marrying the wrong kind of person. Eventually they were found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison or 25 years exile from their home in Virginia. The Lovings chose exile, got a good lawyer and sued for marriage equality all the way up through the U.S. Supreme Court....and in 1967 won their historic case, Loving v. Virginia....
It is important to remember that in 1967, popular opinion in the United States swayed heavily against interracial marriage (statistics set the range between 75-93% of all Americans against). If the Loving v. Virginia case had been left up to the people the majority would have argued to keep interracial marriage illegal. No wonder we have a court system.
Cut to present day California and the recent passage of Proposition 8, making same sex marriage illegal. Again--starting from a place of complete vulgarity-- the masses (by a very thin and very well funded majority) have decided that blocking two people --who happen to have the same set of genitalia-- from marrying is so important that it should be enshrined forever in California's constitution.
What exactly do skin color and genitals have to do with two people making a committed decision to love and take care of one another for life? The exact same un-American and ahistorical argument persists decades later-- people of the same race and homosexuals should not mix because God did not intend for it to be so... as if church and state were to have anything to do with one another at all....
On the 40th anniversary of the Loving vs. Virginia victory, Mildred Loving said the following:
"I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have the freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people's religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies civil rights. 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."
Sexual literacy-- the knowledge, skills and tools people need to live sexually well and happy lives throughout their entire lives is also at its very core--about Loving....and loving....and it will have a very large role to play in ensuring that marriage equality (and equality more broadly) is ultimately achieved.
