Marriage in Massachusetts

I was married in Virginia in 1994, but when we first met in 1965 it is likely that it would have been illegal for us to marry there as it was pre-Loving vs. Virginia.  That case was the vehicle for the Supreme Court to say in 1967 that bans on interracial marriage are unconstitutional.    While ours is an Asian – Caucasian marriage and not a Black-White one, things were definitely different in 1965 and it took a long time to change.  But they did change and now Virginia can elect a Senator who is part of an interracial marriage.  There are even Republicans like Clarence Thomas who engage is what used to called miscegenation.

So what does this have to do with marriage in Massachusetts you might ask?  Massachusetts has just repealed a 1913 law passed in support of the the bans on interracial marriage.  The repeal came because supporters of gay marriage (like me) wanted to allow couples from other states to marry.  I think that the repeal of the 1913 law will be like the Loving decision, opening the door to change in other states.  The homophobes can dis Massachusetts and California all they want, but the tide is changing.