June 12 is celebrated as Loving Day, commemorating the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Loving v. Virginia issued on June 12, 1967.
The case involved Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Loving, a woman of mixed African American and Native American ancestry. The couple had married legally in Washington, D.C., but were arrested when they returned to Virginia because the state prohibited interracial marriage.
After years of legal challenges, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection and Due Process clauses. The decision struck down anti-miscegenation laws in the remaining 16 states that still had them.
As a result, June 12 is widely recognized as Loving Day, a celebration of:
Interracial and intercultural marriages and families.
The right to marry regardless of race.
The broader ideals of equality and civil rights.
The date is named after the Lovings themselves—not because of romance, but because of their surname and their historic role in ending laws against interracial marriage in the United States.