Richard and Mildred Loving

Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a Black and Native American woman, lived in Caroline County, Virginia. In June 1958 they married in Washington, D.C., because Virginia forbade marriage between white people and people of other races. On 11 July 1958 police raided their home in Central Point, Virginia, and were told their marriage was not valid there. On 6 January 1959 they pleaded guilty to cohabiting as man and wife. The sentence was one year in prison, suspended on condition that they leave Virginia and not return together for twenty five years.

They moved to Washington, and in the mid 1960s they challenged the law. On 7 March 1966 the Virginia Supreme Court upheld it, but on 12 June 1967 the US Supreme Court overturned the convictions, ruling unanimously. Alabama, the last state to change its laws, removed the old language from its constitution by referendum in 2000, and about 60 percent of voters agreed. In 2007, on the 40th anniversary of the decision, Mildred Loving issued a statement supporting same sex marriage.