Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin (May 5, 1921 – August 27, 2008)[1] and Phyllis Ann Lyon (November 10, 1924 – April 9, 2020)[2][3] were an American lesbian couple based in San Francisco who were known as feminist and gay-rights activists.[1]
Martin and Lyon met in 1950, became lovers in 1952, and moved in together on Valentine's Day 1953 in an apartment on Castro Street in San Francisco. They had been together for three years when they cofounded the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in San Francisco in 1955. This became the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States and soon had a national reach. They both acted as president and until 1963 successively as editor of The Ladder magazine, which they also founded. They were involved in the DOB until they joined the National Organization for Women (NOW), the first known lesbian couple to do so.
Both women worked to form the Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH) at Glide Memorial Methodist Church in northern California to persuade ministers to accept homosexuals into churches. The couple used their influence to decriminalize homosexuality in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They became politically active in San Francisco's first gay political organization, the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club. This group influenced then-mayor Dianne Feinstein to sponsor a citywide bill to outlaw employment discrimination for gays and lesbians. Both women remained politically active, later serving in the White House Conference on Aging in 1995.
They were married on February 12, 2004, in the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco after Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city clerk to begin providing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.[4] That marriage was voided by the California Supreme Court on August 12, 2004.[5]
After the California Supreme Court's decision in In re Marriage Cases legalized same-sex marriage in California, the couple married again on June 16, 2008. Theirs was the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco .[5] Two months later on August 27, 2008, Martin died in San Francisco from complications of an arm bone fracture.[6] Lyon died years later on April 9, 2020.[1][3][7]
- ^ a b c Gordon, Rachel (August 28, 2008). "Del Martin: 1921-2008: Lesbian rights pioneer Del Martin dies at 87". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Barmann, Jay (April 9, 2020). "SF Lesbian Pioneer Phyllis Lyon dies at age 95". SFist. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
- ^ a b Carmel, Julia (April 10, 2020). "Phyllis Lyon, Lifelong Lesbian Activist, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ Alexandra, Rae (May 17, 2024). "The San Francisco Couple Whose Lifelong Love Changed America". www.kqed.org. Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Lagos, Marisa (June 16, 2008). "Newsom Marries Activist Couple". SFGate.com. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
- ^ Grimes, William (August 27, 2008). "Del Martin, Lesbian Activist, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ "Lesbian pioneer Phyllis Lyon dies". Bay Area Reporter. April 9, 2020. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2024.