In 1996, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) argued passionately against the Defense of Marriage Act. This is what it sounded like.
When I was growing up in the South during the 40’s and the 50’s, the great majority of the people in that region believed that black people shouldn’t be able to enter places of public accommodation. And they felt that black people shouldn’t be able to register to vote. And many people felt that that was right, but that was wrong. I think as politicians, as elected officials, we should not only follow, but we must lead — lead our districts.
You cannot tell people they cannot fall in love. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., used to say, when people talked about interracial marriages, and I quote, “Races do not fall in love and get married. Individuals fall in love and get married. Why do you not want your fellow men and women, your fellow Americans, to be happy? Why do you attack them? Why do you want to destroy the love they hold in their hearts? Why do you want to crush their hopes, their dreams, their longings, their aspirations? We are talking about human beings! People like you! People who want to get married, buy a house, and spend their lives with the one they love. They have done no wrong.”
(h/t the Huffington Post)