By declaring Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law unconstitutional, interracial marriage became legal. After the ruling, marriages between black and white people increased by 378 percent from 1970 to 1992.
In 1998, voters in South Carolina removed the ban on interracial marriages that existed in their state’s constitution since 1895. Alabama soon followed, getting rid of their miscegenation laws in 2000.
Increase in intermarriage from 1967-2015, 2017, PEW Research Center
"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."
~Mildred Loving, 40th Anniversary of Landmark Case, 2007
Tyron Garner and John Lawrence appeared at a rally outside Houston City Hall to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. 2003, Outsmart Magazine
In 2003, Lawrence v. Texas set a precedent for citing Loving v. Virginia in cases about legal unions. In 2015, during the Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized gay marriage, Justice Anthony Kennedy cited the Loving's case.
Loving v. Virginia was one of the most important legal cases of the Civil Rights era, breaking barriers for interracial couples.
Our Community Connection
"Inter-racial marriages are a lot of work! When you marry an Indian girl, you marry the whole family! Adam wasn't prepared for that realization and at the start it was very overwhelming. We had to make it work because we knew we wanted to have a family together. I think having kids that are biracial is also an incredibly challenging yet equally rewarding adventure. My kids don't look like their friends, but they learn very early on not to judge people by the way they look!"
~Neena Nizar, family friend, 2020
"Free to love means that it is okay to love anyone, whether they are of the same sex or opposite sex, whether you have the same skin color, the same religion, cultural background or family structure. You love who you love because of who they are inside, not based upon what others judge of them based upon what they see."
~Abby Seckle, family friend, 2020
Daniel and Ferial Pearson, 2016
"When we started dating we didn't have to worry about if we were going to get in trouble with the law, or if this was allowed by certain people's rules. We could date and fall in love without worrying about what what society allows us to do and what was against the law. But at the same time, we've had to justify a relationship to immigration officials, to friends and family, and to people who think that if you're a person of color and an activist that you're not really woke if you're married to a white person. "Free to love" means that consenting adults can decide for themselves how to make a family."
~Daniel and Ferial Pearson, Iman's parents, 2020
"Loving Day" is recognized annually on June 12 to commemorate the anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia ruling celebrating multiracial families ensuring Mildred and Richard's legacy lives on.
"We Talk to Interracial Couples 50 Years After Loving v. Virginia", 2017, HBO/VICE News
Header photo: The Lovings, 1965, Grey Villet/Monroe Gallery of Photography