At the moment, the internet is inundated with links and quotes and analysis of all the pieces involved with the Federal Court Case in San Francisco which is attempting to classify Proposition 8 as unconstitutional and therefore invalid. There is one article, however, which should not be missed. That article is by Margaret Talbot, writing for The New Yorker. This article details the ideas and inception of the Federal lawsuit, the people inspired with the fire of action on the issue of federally legalized, same sex marriage. It’s told in an intimate manner which brings a dense reality to the case which so many others have missed.
The article contains the following passage, emotionally overwhelming in it’s original incarnation as well as it’s application to the current court case. It concerns the selection of plaintiffs for the federal case, and involves the couple who were plaintiffs in Loving V Virginia, the landmark case that overturned the ban on inter-racial marriage in the United States…
Though it doesn’t matter from a legal point of view what happens to plaintiffs after their case is resolved, their post-Supreme Court life can affect how people view their cause. The Lovings, who had three children, remained married until Richard Loving died, in a car accident, in 1975. They seldom gave interviews, though on the fortieth anniversary of the decision Mildred Loving issued a statement: “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.”
Do yourself a favor and read this article…The New Yorker – A Risky Proposal
