Summer of loving, fall of segregation

I'm a little late to the story, but it's a story that many of my readers should pay attention to. A judge in Louisiana has refused to many a couple of different races.

The judge, Keith Bardwell, is willing to marry couples of any race so long as they are of the same race.

He might have a rationale for his decision, but it isn't supported by American law. I am not sure if Loving V Virginia acts as a precedent in his state - I thought it would because it went to the supreme court, but am neither American nor a lawyer.

His rationale is that children of mixed-race will have more difficulty in growing up than pure blooded children. This is such a weak argument and I would love to see any evidence for it. Who amongst us is exclusively of one race? How many marriages of single race couples are perfect?

It's upsetting and it is well-covered in the K-blogosphere and beyond. ROK Drop, Dispatches, Pharyngula, CNN.

Perhaps this will bring the hows and why of getting married to the public's consciousness and might even get people to rethink gay marriage. If you have good arguments for allowing mixed race couples to marry, those arguments all apply to gay marriage as well.

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UPDATED November 4, 2009:

The judge has resigned. His resignation letter contained one sentence and did not detail why.

News article here.