In Loving v. Virginia, the decision that struck down all state bans on interracial marriage, the United States Supreme Court wrote that although “Loving arose in the context of racial discrimination, prior and subsequent decisions of this Court confirm that the right to marry is of fundamental importance for all individuals.”
This statement still rings true today.
As we celebrate Loving on its 40th anniversary, it is important to acknowledge the struggle for lesbians and gay men to marry the person they choose. Read what Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart and H. Alexander Robinson, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, have to say about the intertwined struggle for civil rights in an exclusive Op-Ed for the Advocate.com.
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About Kevin M. Cathcart
Kevin M. Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal since 1992, is a leading strategist and spokesperson in the movement to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV. Under his leadership, Lambda Legal’s groundbreaking work reached new heights in 2003 when it won a U.S. Supreme Court victory, Lawrence v. Texas, striking down Texas’s “Homosexual Conduct” law and every law like it in the nation.
About H. Alexander Robinson
H. Alexander Robinson is the executive director/CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black same-gender-loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Robinson is the former president of the National Task Force on AIDS and a former Presidential AIDS Advisory Council member.