As the June 12 anniversary of Loving
v. Virginia approaches, Prop 8 lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies
say the 1967 Supreme Court decision laid the groundwork for their gay
marriage case.
The lawyers, who are challenging the
constitutionality of California's 2008 voter-approved gay marriage
ban, Proposition 8, argue that the court's unanimous Loving
decision makes it clear that marriage is a fundamental right
protected by the constitution.
“Forty-four years ago, the United
States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that marriage is one of the
basic civil rights of man; fundamental to our very existence and
survival. And that under our constitution, the freedom to marry or
not marry a person of another race resides with the individual and
cannot be infringed by the state,” Olson says in a
two-minute-fifteen-second video released Thursday.
“At the time, interracial marriage
was outlawed in Virginia and in a number of other states across the
country,” Boies says.
“Forty-four years later, Loving v.
Virginia has a profound significance for another group of
citizens who wish to marry but are not allowed: gay and lesbian
couples.”
“The freedom to marry is a
constitutional right,” Boies asserts, “as recognized in Loving
v. Virginia.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of
this page.)