Interracial love photography

June 12 marks the 52nd anniversary of Loving v. Virginia , the landmark Supreme Court decision that declared all laws against interracial marriage unconstitutional. The Lovings were found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail, but the trial judge agreed to suspend the sentence if the Lovings agreed to leave the state of Virginia and not return for 25 years. The couple and their lawyers took the case to the Supreme Court, a legal process that upended their lives as well as the lives of their three children for almost a decade. To celebrate the watershed moment, we asked our readers to tell us why Loving v. Virginia still matters today and to share the one word that describes their marriage.

Their relationship defied convention, and yet it survived war and bitter family resentment. He was buried in a white cemetery. She was buried in a black cemetery.

He was buried in a white cemetery. She was buried in a black cemetery. Their marriage was unheard-of at the time. Their relationship defied convention, and yet it survived war and bitter family resentment.