When Richard and Mildred Loving awoke in the middle of the night, a few weeks after their June 1958 wedding, it wasn’t normal newlywed ardor. As NPR reported, there were policemen with flashlights in their bedroom. They’d come to arrest the couple.
“They asked Richard who was that woman he was sleeping with? I say, I’m his wife, and the sheriff said, not here you’re not. And they said, come on, let’s go”. Mildred Loving recalled that night in the HBO documentary The Loving Story.
The Loving’s had committed what the U.S State of Virginia called unlawful cohabitation. Their marriage was deemed illegal because Mildred was Black and Native American; and Richard was white. Their case went all the way to the Supreme Court. And on June 12th, 1967, the couple won.
Now, each year on this date, “Loving Day” celebrates the historic ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which declared unconstitutional a Virginia law prohibiting mixed-race marriage — and legalized interracial marriage in every state.
“Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides within the individual and cannot be infringed on by the State.”
Loving Day is the anniversary of this historic court decision for interracial marriage. Celebrated every year on June 12th, Loving Day is a global day of visibility, education, and community.
People around the world observe LovingDay.org in meaningful ways. Everyone is welcome and it can be especially significant for interracial couples, multiracial families, people of mixed race heritage and those with similar lived experiences.
Shortly before the 2007 landmark vote, in which the State of Massachusetts legislature endorsed marriage equality by a 151-45 vote, Mildred Loving, one of the plaintiffs in the landmark racial marriage equality case from 1967 ’Loving v. Virginia’, endorsed equal marriage rights for gay couples.
The Loving’s had committed what the U.S State of Virginia called unlawful cohabitation. Their marriage was deemed illegal because Mildred was Black and Native American; and Richard was white. Their case went all the way to the Supreme Court and on June 12th, 1967, the couple won.
“My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love.
But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.
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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