Anniversary of Loving v. Virginia

I wanted to share with you an email I received from the American Foundation for Equal Rights (www.afer.org), in honor of the anniversary of a court decision that finally made interracial marriages legal.  It is especially significant to remember this case since Prop 8 is being debated and challenged in court once again on Monday.

"This Sunday, we celebrate the 44th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court’s decision that struck down laws that forbade African Americans and whites from marrying.
The Loving decision was a watershed moment in the civil rights movement, and has deep implications today for gay and lesbian couples who want nothing more than the freedom to marry.
To commemorate this anniversary, AFER’s co-counsel in the Prop. 8 case, Ted Olson and David Boies, recorded a special message. They talk about how the Loving case set an important precedent for the current fight for marriage equality.
I hope you’ll watch this video and share it with your family and friends.

http://www.afer.org/media/videos/loving-and-marriage-equality/

This year, the timing of this anniversary holds special significance. It comes the day before AFER’s attorneys return to district court to address a dangerous motion by the other side to throw out the decision that ruled Prop. 8 unconstitutional.
In the Loving decision, a unanimous court held that marriage is “one of the basic civil rights of man…fundamental to our very existence and survival.”
Today, we look at anti-miscegenation laws as a stain on our history and an affront to our beliefs as Americans. In this country, we do not create separate classes of Americans based upon inherent characteristics. Sexual orientation is immutable and unchangeable. It is as much a part of our DNA as our race.
Because I have spent my life fighting to make ours a more just society for all Americans, I’m a supporter of marriage equality. I believe this to be a fight for civil rights.
Mildred and Richard Loving were not political people—they were a committed couple who believed they should have the same ability to share their lives together, just as their neighbors did.
Kris Perry & Sandy Stier and Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo, the plaintiffs in Perry v. Brown, are no different. They want to be married. There is nothing in the world they want more, and as Americans, we owe them nothing less.
As Mildred Loving said four years ago, “That’s what Loving [v. Virginia], and loving [each other], are all about.”
And that is why Proposition 8 must not stand."

Proposition 8 is one of the many ways that society denies privileges to LGBTQ individuals that are afforded to straight individuals. Why am I calling marriage a "privilege?" Because with marriage comes legal recognition and therefore protection by the court system related to the following: 1) division of assets in the event of separation or divorce, 2) allowance to make medical decisions on behalf of your partner or child in the event of terminal illness or death, 3) the ability to have your partner and children on your health insurance, 4) recognition of both you and your partner as legal guardians to the children you conceived or adopted, etc. Heterosexual privilege exists - just as white privilege and male privilege exist.

Many sexual and gender minority couples across the country are fighting for the right to marry.  Many heterosexuals (thought certainly not all of them) are not involved in this fight because their rights are not affected.  One time a professor and I pondered the question "how do you make someone care about something that does not directly affect them?"  The conclusion we came to was this - you take the issue at hand and find a way to make it personal to them.  Therefore, I will get personal for a moment.

As I contemplate my future with my partner, I think about things that most couples think about: Will we get married?  Will we have children?  What will our life be like together?  For many people, there is what seems to be the inherent desire to stand in front of the people who mean the most to them and pledge their love and commitment to the person they have given their heart to.  This has been on my mind more and more lately.  Sure I could have a commitment ceremony with my partner that resembles a wedding between a straight couple in every way but one - at the end of the ceremony my partner and I are given no consideration by the law or society.  I will admit it is hurtful for others to say that my form of love or relationship is not legitimate or natural and therefore does not deserve recognition.  Why does the love between LGBTQ individuals not deserve the privileges afforded to straight couples?  Doesn't love = love regardless of its presentation?  Essentially, society's message to LGBTQ individuals has been that, in order to receive the same privileges as heterosexuals, you must become one - in other words, you must conform.

Part of the equal rights movement is standing up and saying that we will not conform.  Instead, we will continue to fight until society recognizes LGBTQ individuals in the same way that heterosexual individuals are recognized.  Let's hope Monday becomes a success for California, and for the equal rights movement at large.