Louisiana judge denies marriage license to interracial couple

October 15, 4:09 PMSonoma County Civil Rights ExaminerMegan Coffey

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Photo: http://www.interracialdatingcentral.com

In a shocking display of prejudice for this day and age, Louisiana state Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell refused to perform a marriage ceremony or sign a marriage license for an interracial couple on October 15, 2009 (yes, you read that right, 2009). Bardwell explained that he never performs ceremonies for interracial couples because of his “concern…for the children.”

According to Bardwell, who says he is not a racist, “most interracial marriages don’t last long,” and the biracial children of such a union suffer rejection by both black and white society.

The claim that “the children will suffer” has long been used as an excuse to deny parental custody and adoption rights to gays and lesbians, but it is stunning that this argument is being employed to block interracial marriage over forty years after the US Supreme Court declared such discrimination unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia.

The Louisiana ACLU is requesting an investigation of Bardwell, who clearly deserves to be removed as a justice of the peace for his obviously unfair and illegal treatment of interracial couples. One can only hope that someday today’s similarly bald-faced discrimination against gay and lesbian couples will seem as outlandish and anachronistic.