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Photo by Lindsey Thorne
We plucked some amazing nuggets from Obergefell v. Hodges (the SCOTUS marriage equality case in which the Court held that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Constitution) recently to include in your wedding ceremony. This time around we're focusing on Loving v. Virginia, another landmark SCOTUS decision that invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage in 1967 (recently made into a movie).
5 best quotes from the marriage equality decision to use in your ceremony
While we still have so far to go and so many potential obstacles in our path, I wanted to call out some ways to include... Read more
Where would the nation (and us?!) be without our couples of color. This decision even has a special day called Loving Day, the anniversary of the decision on June 12.
In this political climate, we want to call out all opportunities to bring light to the struggles of those who have fought for marriage equality in all ways. Here are some amazing quotes from Loving v. Virginia to include in your ceremony…
Best quotes from Loving v. Virginia:
Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man', fundamental to our very existence and survival. …Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State. These convictions must be reversed.
This case presents a constitutional question never addressed by this Court: whether a statutory scheme adopted by the State of Virginia to prevent marriages between persons solely on the basis of racial classifications violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. For reasons which seem to us to reflect the central meaning of those constitutional commands, we conclude that these statutes cannot stand.
And the best response…
Forty years after the court's decision, Mildred Loving released a statement that we really loved, too:
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.
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
