With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), they filed suit to overturn the law.

[4] With the exception of a 2007 statement supporting LGBT rights, Mildred lived "a quiet, private life declining interviews and staying clear of the spotlight" after Loving and the death of her husband.

[1][2][5] On the 40th anniversary of the decision, she stated: "I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life.

Mildred identified culturally as Native American, specifically Rappahannock,[9] a historic and now a federally recognized tribe in Virginia.

[15] Caroline County adhered to the state's strict 20th-century Jim Crow segregation laws, but Central Point had been a visible mixed-race community since the 19th century.

[12] Virginia's one-drop rule, codified in law in 1924 as the Racial Integrity Act, required all residents to be classified as "white" or "colored", refusing to use people's longstanding identification as Indian among several tribes in the state.

Richard's closest companions were black (or colored, as was the term then), including those he drag-raced with and Mildred's older brothers.

They were arrested at night by the county sheriff who had received an anonymous tip,[19] and charged with "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth."

They were frustrated by their inability to travel together to visit their families in Virginia, and by social isolation and financial difficulties in Washington, D.C.

[19] The ACLU filed a motion on the Lovings' behalf to vacate the judgment and set aside the sentence, on the grounds that the statutes violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

On October 28, 1964, when their motion still had not been decided, the Lovings began a class action suit in United States district court.

The Court overturned their convictions, dismissing Virginia's argument that the law was not discriminatory because it applied equally to and provided identical penalties for both white and black persons.

The Supreme Court ruled that the anti-miscegenation statute violated both the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Mildred's oldest, Sidney Clay Jeter (January 27, 1957 – May 2010), was born in Caroline County prior to her relationship with Richard.

[22] After the Supreme Court ruled on the case in 1967, the couple moved with their children back to Central Point, Virginia, where Richard built them a house.

"[18] On June 12, 2007, Mildred issued a statement on the 40th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision.

The older generation's fears and prejudices have given way, and today's young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life.