loving and marriage

I just wanted to write a little blurb commemorating the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, a landmark court case passed by the Warren Court in 1967 that ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage.

Call it ironic (or sad), that here we are 40 years later, immersed in a similar civil rights struggle, only this time it’s sexual, rather than racial, minorities that are on trial. And, in the wake of the times, I can only assume that a federal mandate to end to legal restrictions on sexuality-based marriage is a distant flicker on the political landscape…

However, I am happy to report that today, only 2 days after we celebrate the 40th anniversary of one major civil rights achievement, Massachusetts has stepped up and helped to lead the way to celebrating another one. By voting to block a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, state lawmakers protected the right to same-sex marriage in the only state in the US to allow it.

I think Governor Deval Patrick said it best,

“In Massachusetts today, the freedom to marry is secure,"

Now only 49 states to go..

Below are a few sites that celebrate the Loving decision:

www.ipride.org: Serving mixed heritage and transracially adopted youth and their families
www.swirlinc.org: Serving mixed heritage community to empower members to create change
www.marriageequality.org: An agency fighting for marriage rights for LGBTIQ couples, including queer couples who are of mixed heritage, transracial adoptees and in interracial unions.