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In 1958 Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving, two young lovers from Caroline County, Virginia, got married. Soon they were hauled out of their bedroom in the middle of the night and taken to jail. Their crime? Loving was white, Jeter was not, and in Virginia - as in twenty-three other states then - interracial marriage was illegal. Their experience reflected that of countless couples across America since colonial times. And in challenging the laws against their marriage, the Lovings closed the book on that very long chapter in the nation's history. Race, Sex, and the Freedom to Marry tells the story of this couple and the case that forever changed the law of race and marriage in America.The story of the Lovings and the case they took to the Supreme Court involved a community, an extended family, and in particular five main characters - the couple, two young attorneys, and a crusty local judge who twice presided over their case - as well as such key dimensions of political and cultural life as race, gender, religion, law, identity, and family.