"And The Truth Shall Set You Free..."

Mildred and Richard Loving

45 years ago today, on June 12, 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the aptly named case of "Loving v. Commonwealth of Virginia" that, "“Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival.”  And in so doing swept away the anti-miscegenation laws that existed throughout the nation, freeing people of differing races, colors and creeds to marry the person of their choosing according to the conscience and dictates of their hearts.   

Today, we are on the cusp and very near to another historic ruling that will soon sweep away the last vestiges of discrimination in marriage - Same gender loving people will be proven to be equal in the eyes of the law and entitled to the promises of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," love, marriage and family.  This day which is quickly coming was one that Mildred Loving clearly foretold and no doubt hoped to see in her lifetime.

The year before her death, she said this on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the historic ruling that bears her and her husband's name:

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.

- Mildred Loving, June 12, 2007 

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My husband Ed and I are married... To do so, we had to leave the country of our birth to gain the right to participate in that most "basic civil right" of mankind... And now, we are waiting impatiently for the rule of law and the sword of justice to prove that the promises made to us and our forebears in the Declaration of Independance and which are enshrined in the Constitution of the United States are ours as equally as they are our neighbors.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

"Fear Eats the Soul"