Sexual Civil Rights

From Miscegenation laws to Gay Marriage

Gay Marriage Cases Before SCOTUS

Perry v. Schwarzenegger Windsor v. United States

Richard and Mildred Loving

• Pace v. Alabama, 1883: SCOTUS confirms that anti-miscegenation laws are Constitutional, and that they do not constitute discrimination against any race.

• McLaughlin v. Florida, 1964: overturns Pace; sets the stage for Loving

Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution (July 1868)

• Citizenship Clause:No state can abridge the rights of citizenship

• Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses: states may not restrain the liberty of citizens unequally, and must provide equal access to the law to all citizens.

Nella Larsen, Passing (1929)

Myth of the “tragic mullatto”

Pauli Murray,1910-1985

Psupreme Court of California: Perez v. Sharp

Jeanne Crain and Ethel Waters in Pinky (Elia Kazan, 1949)

Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore in Imitation of LIfe (Douglas Sirk, 1959)

Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier and Katherine Houghton in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (Stanley Kramer, 1967