Freedom to Marry: 40th Anniversay of "Loving" Decision
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's groundbreaking decision Loving v. Virginia, a case that overturned laws prohibiting interracial marriages because of their unconstitutionality.
Freedom to Marry, a nonprofit partnership of gay and straight advocates for full marriage equality led by veteran gay civil rights attorney Evan Wolfson, has launched a campaign to remind America of not only the importance of Loving v. Virginia and how the decision made us a better country, but also how it connects to today's battle for gay marriage.
I recently publicized a wedding notice in the New York Times from two lesbians, Thea Spyer and Edith Windsor, who've loved each other for decades.
Their announcement about how they met, forged a life together and had to travel to Canada to exchange vows, despite substantial financial burden and debilitating medical conditions, touched many of us. The love, commitment and bravery of Thea and Edith makes them true heroines and pioneers.
But it angers me greatly that at their advanced age and in need of much medical assistance, they couldn't get hitched in their hometown of Manhattan, all because New York State, like every American state except Massachusetts, prohibits gays and lesbians from enjoying full marriage equality. That is wrong and will one day change, hopefully in my lifetime.
Please take the time and visit the Freedom to Marry site. Read the Supreme Court's Loving v. Virginia ruling. Learn about the celebration surrounding it and how a coalition of individuals and groups are working to broaden its impact. And view the ads Freedom to Marry has placed in newspapers, featuring straight interracial couples whose marriages would have been against the law in the 1960s.
Do it for Thea and Edith. Do it for all interracial couples. Do it for gay and lesbian couples, struggling to get married. Visit Freedom to Marry today.
As a gay man, right now, I don't particularly care about the freedom to marry. Two things come to mind as immediate needs before "marriage": (1) access to healthcare and (2) national non-discrimination policies for employment and housing.
ReplyDeleteWithout a roof over our heads, the ability to work, and the ability to stay healthy, marriage is useless.
The marriage issue is a rouse and is splitting the gay community once again into those that "have" and those that "have not".
Marriage is a luxury. BASIC issues need to be fixed before marriage even gets on the radar screen for most of us.