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Speaker • Teacher • Writer • Activist
There most certainly is a parallel between the Loving v. Virginia decision and marriage equality.
Jeff Jacoby wrote yet another column in June 29, 2011’s Boston Globe in which he argued that marriage equality advocates are wrong in draw parallel between interracial marriages and same-sex marriages. I won’t bother to quote from his article. It’s here, if you want to read it. As far as I’m concerned, his arguments have been made before, and debunked.
To the Boston Globe:
In response to Jeff Jacoby’s blathering column “Marriage cannot be redefined,” and his argument that there is no parallel between the Loving v. Virginia decision ending the prohibition of interracial marriages and the current movement for marriage equality for same-sex couples, I present the words of Mildred Loving herself, written in 2007, on the 40th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia decision:
My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.
Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.
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.
Robyn Ochs
Jamaica Plain MA 02130
Robyn Ochs 