Ode To Mildred Loving

Mildred Loving passed away this weekend, she was 68 years old. Know who she is? I didn't either until I saw her name, but I know all about her marriage. See, 40 years ago Mildred married Richard, but the Commonwealth of Virginia arrested them both for the effort. That's because Rich was white and Mildred was black. But the Lovings fought back against a state and nation who said they had no right to live as husband and wife because of their difference in race. Their fight lead to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down all laws barring people from interracial marriage.

And now, for the irony.

41 years later one man sits on that same Supreme Court, himself a black man who lives a life made possible by the Lovings. Justice Clarence Thomas you see is black, if you didn't know that already; and his wife, she's white. But see, what's good for Clarence isn't good for me. Clarence has been among the most aggressive members of the court voting against the rights of same sex couples to marry. For some reason, two guys being in love and deciding to share their lives as legally-recognized spouses is simply too much for Clarence to handle. Yeah, I know, I thought the same thing.
I've noticed the past two weeks while visiting family that when I mention the basic rights I live without, usually in the context of a half-witted statement, my nieces and nephew give me a careful laugh, not knowing if Uncle Jay is really serious about it. That's sort of like the rest of the country. While most might empathize with me, few take the issue seriously. But the truth is, a majority of states say I can be jailed just for sleeping with the wrong person; and only one says I'm free to marry who the hell I please. Two more say they'll let me but I have to call it something different.

Such things make flag waving a little hard to do these days, especially knowing some 10-15% of the people now fighting for "our freedom" in Iraq will come home with the same lack of civil rights. They serve their country by choice, but are forced to do so in the closet. Sad, don't you think?

Posted by JD on May 5, 2008 11:42 AM