Dallas Attorneys Among Thousands of Couples Celebrating ‘Loving Day’

Dallas attorneys Dylan Drummond and Kimberly Houston Drummond first met in law school.

“Initially our lives went in different directions, so we kind of reconnected after what, 10 years or so? And then got together, got married, had twins and the rest is history,” Kimberly said.

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It’s a story Dylan calls a blur, none of which would be possible without another couple’s story that started in 1958.

That’s when Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested and banished from the state of Virginia for marrying as an interracial couple, sparking a decade-long fight that would eventually wind up in the Supreme Court.

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In 1967, the court finally struck down laws meant to keep people apart because of their skin color.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a Virginia law banning marriage between African Americans and Caucasians was unconstitutional, thus nullifying similar statues in 15 other states. The decision came in a case involving Richard Perry Loving, a white construction worker and his African American wife, Mildred. The couple married in the District of Columbia in 1958 and were arrested upon their return to their native Caroline County, Virginia. They were given one year suspended sentences on condition that they stay out of the state for 25 years. The Lovings decided in 1963 to return home and fight banishment, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a Virginia law banning marriage between African Americans and Caucasians was unconstitutional, thus nullifying similar statutes in 15 other states. The decision came in a case involving Richard Perry Loving, a white construction worker and his African American wife, Mildred. The couple married in the District of Columbia in 1958 and were arrested upon their return to their native Caroline County, Virginia. They were given one-year suspended sentences on the condition that they stay out of the state for 25 years. The Lovings decided in 1963 to return home and fight banishment, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"One of the things that always stood out to me was the lawyers who successfully argued his case in the Supreme Court asked Mr. Loving what he wanted them to tell the court on his behalf. And he said, tell them that he loves his wife. And I think that is about as simple and succinct an encapsulation of what that decision means,” Dylan said. “That we love each other and have the right to be married as anybody else, and that something as artificial and malicious as skin color should never have been the basis to keep people apart.”

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That’s why half a century later, the Supreme Court is where Dylan asked Kimberly to be his wife.

"The significance of that was overwhelming,” Kimberly said.

Today, with their 2-year-old twins, the Drummonds are just one of the thousands of families across the country who celebrate “Loving Day” in honor of a couple who paved the way for their existence.

“Just the fight, the courage, the sustainability of all of it says that, gosh, we don’t have anything to worry about when you look at their story. Anything that comes our way is nothing compared to what they went through, so we’re so grateful,” Kimberly said.

This year marks the 54th anniversary of that Supreme Court decision.