Celebrate your loved one on National Loving Day! Every June 12, we honor the United States Supreme Court’s 1967 decision to strike down laws in several states that banned interracial marriage. The decision was sparked by Loving v. Virginia, a court case involving Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple from Virginia who married in 1958. Upon returning home after their wedding, they were arrested. The couple fought back against the laws that forbid their partnership, and ultimately won the right to marry. Richard and Mildred’s determination changed the lives of millions of Americans and shaped the future of relationships in the country. From June 12, 1967 onward, Americans were no longer prohibited from marrying someone they loved solely because they were of different races. At the time of the Supreme Court’s decision, sixteen U.S. states still forbid interracial marriage, so the ruling was a necessary game-changer.The holiday was not created until decades after the decision, in 2004. It was launched by Ken Tanabe, who grew up in an interracial family with a Japanese father and a Belgian mother. He launched the holiday in hopes that the day of celebration would bring together multiethnic families from around the world.
