Marriage's lineage a bit convoluted: "Many would be surprised to know that as recently as 1967 in many states it was illegal for a mixed race couple to be granted a marriage license. An even bigger surprise, given current debate over same sex marriages, is that when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of interracial marriage, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that the 'freedom to marry or not marry a person of another race resides in that individual.'' Note that Warren wrote 'person,' and refers to 'persons' -- not man or woman -- throughout the opinion."