Loving Day

Today is Loving Day, an annual celebration held on June 12 each year, marking the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court ruling "Loving v. Virginia" that struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen U.S. states. Citing "there can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause," the ruling invalidated U.S. state laws banning interracial marriage, mainly forbidding marriage between non-whites and whites.

Postcard US-3284982 to Russia features a pair of beautiful swans forming a heart shape with red flowers. It was purchased at Zazzle.

More Rainbows

Hoover Dam

I need to clarify that when I mentioned in my last post rainbows were rare seen in Las Vegas, I meant those meteorological rainbows. In fact, rainbows are easily to find in and around Las Vegas thanks to many water features and fountains. My traveling postcard sent to Turkey US-2283223 shows a rainbow formed over the mist from the Hoover Dam spillway. I have a video showing a rainbow over the famous Bellagio music fountains taken by a GoPro cam.

I generated a HTML5 WordCloud with my blog feeds. The result was interesting.

Also if you type in any text string that contains "gay" in Google's search box today, the search box will be surrounded by rainbows. It marks two separate rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down portion of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act and cleared the way for same-sex marriages banned under the Proposition 8 to resume in California.

US Constitution and Civil Liberties

ACLU of Nevada Foundation's Annual 11th Annual Event 

226 years ago and 4 years after the United States won its independence from Great Britain, state delegates, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, convened in Philadelphia to start composing a new United States constitution on May 25, 1787. The resulted United States Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, provided the blueprint on how the federal government should work and function, and how the three branches should behave and interact with each other under checks and balances.

In the Bill of Rights (collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution) and the other subsequent amendments that established the "due process" clause and the "equal protection" clause, we are guarantee a number of personal freedoms and civil liberties that include the freedom of speech, religion, protest, assembly, and press.

However, the rights guaranteed under the Constitutions do not mean they will be automatically extended to you. In addition, there are segments of people who have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; prisoners; and people with disabilities. There are also debates on what rights legal and illegal immigrants have.

I received a card a few days ago, advertising American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada Foundation's Eleventh Annual Celebration of Civil Liberties. Ruby Duncan, a local civil rights advocate and activist, will be honored as the 2013 Emilie Wanderer Civil Libertarian of the Year. The event will be held at Springs Preserve Cafe on June 14, 2013 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The ticket costs US$ 100. You can find out more information and purchase a ticket online.