June 12th, 2022 marks the 55th anniversary of the landmark case Loving v. Virginia which made interracial marriage legal across the United States. We also know this day as Loving Day. This year, Loving Day has a bit of a weightier feel to it. In the recent Supreme Court leaked draft opinion on the Dobbs case, the legal reasoning that Justice Alito used to overturn Roe could be applied to undo Loving v. Virginia, signaling a new threat to interracial marriage as we know it.

To those who say Loving v. Virginia will never be overturned, be cautious and vigilant. The United States has a long history of criminalizing, surveilling, and controlling Black and brown families and the mixing of races. We must both celebrate and honor our right to marry whomever we want and work to ensure its protection in the future.

Today we’re celebrating Loving and discussing its connectivity to the broader attacks on our ability to build our families how we see fit. We’re joined by Dr. Michele Goodwin, a constitutional law scholar at the University of California, Irvine School of Law where she started and runs the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy. She’s the host of On the Issues, a podcast by Ms. Magazine. Michele is also an ACLU Executive Committee member.