After accurately stating “I think freedom means freedom for everyone,” former Vice President Cheney rewrote history to justify his position against a federal statue that would permit same-sex marriage stating, “Historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis.”

While he’s right, historically, marriage has been regulated on the state level, in the case of interracial marriage, the process of amending marriage inequality ended at the federal level. In 1967, the Supreme Court determined that
Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 was unconstitutional in the case of Loving v Virginia in 1967. The decision marked the national end of race based restrictions on marriage.

When this decision was first articulated, over 70% of the population opposed interracial marriage. With a man of mix-raced heritage occupying the highest office, the very thought of determining marriage eligibility on the basis of race seems absurd. Yet the arguments being made to oppose same-sex marriage are based in the same premise, we fear what we don’t know, and as a result we’ve justified legislating equality. It’s not acceptable. Freedom means freedom for everyone.