Mrs. Loving stopped giving interviews, but last year issued a statement on the 40th anniversary

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

of the announcement of the Supreme Court ruling, urging that gay men and lesbians be allowed to marry:

Mildred Loving, Who Battled Ban on Mixed-Race Marriage, Dies at 68

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Published: May 6, 2008

Mildred Loving, a black woman whose anger over being banished from Virginia for marrying a white man led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning state miscegenation laws, died on May 2 at her home in Central Point, Va. She was 68.

Peggy Fortune, her daughter, said the cause was pneumonia.

The Supreme Court ruling, in 1967, struck down the last group of segregation laws to remain on the books — those requiring separation of the races in marriage. The ruling was unanimous, its opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, who in 1954 wrote the court’s opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional.

In Loving v. Virginia, Warren wrote that miscegenation laws violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause. “We have consistently denied the constitutionality of measures which restrict the rights of citizens on account of race,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/us/06loving.html

[Tx4obama]

1. Below is a copy of Mildred Loving's statement

-snip-

In June 2007, on the 40th anniversary of the issuance of the Supreme Court's decision in Loving, commenting on the comparison between interracial marriage and same-sex marriage, Mildred Loving issued a statement in relation to Loving v. Virginia and its mention in the ongoing court case Hollingsworth v. Perry:

" I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry... 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."

-snip-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Loving#For_same-sex_marriage

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. Thanks. I was only familiar with the case itself but had no idea Mr. Loving died so young in a car

accident.

[Tx4obama]

3. Two good films to see if you get a chance

The Loving Story (documentary)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1759682/?ref_=sr_1

Mr. and Mrs. Loving
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117098/?ref_=sr_3

[liberalhistorian]

4. I'm 48 years old, and it has always

been amazing to me that, within my lifetime, couples could be and were arrested, jailed and often legally required to leave their state simply for the "crime" of loving and marrying someone of a different race. It truly boggles my mind, and my son cannot even wrap his mind around it. Unfortunately, I still grew up with too many people who had a problem with interracial marriage and were very vocal about it, including even in college.

However, I was fortunate to have progressive parents (my mother and stepfather, my dad was a different story) who constantly counteracted that and who had many non-white and gay friends, and at a time when it was not entirely socially acceptable to do. I remember the comments we'd get from neighbors when black, hispanic and asian friends (often my mother's co-workers) would visit and how adroitly, yet firmly, my parents would handle it. Considering that they both were raised by racist bigots, that's always been a pleasant surprise to me.

I remember one of their closest friends in the late sixties and seventies was an openly gay co-worker of my stepfather, and I remember my parents talking him out of suicide a couple of times. It makes me sick that he was driven to suicide simply because society made it extremely difficult for him to love who he wanted to love and was made to love and that he was considered "sick" by too many because of it, and it makes me sick that too many GLBT people have, indeed, ended their lives because of that and that too many still feel driven to it.

I truly believe that we are on the cusp of another historic watershed moment in civil rights, and I think that, in 20-30 years, we will look back on it and wonder what the hell the fuss was all about, much like we now do with interracial marriage. Hopefully, it won't even be an issue for any grandchildren I may have, if I have them.