Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

 

Del Martin (born May 5, 1921) and Phyllis Lyon (born 10 November 1924) are an American lesbian couple known as feminist and gay-rights activists.

Del Martin

Del Martin was born Dorothy Taliaferro on May 5, 1921, in San Francisco. She was salutatorian of her class, the first students to graduate from George Washington High School. She was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and at San Francisco State College, where she studied journalism, and she has a D.A. from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. She was married for four years to James Martin, whose name she retained after their divorce. ^[1][2] She has one daughter, Kendra Mon. ^[3]

Phyllis Lyon

Phyllis Lyon was born November 10, 1924 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.^[4] She holds a degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, earned in 1946. During the 1940s, she worked as a reporter for the Chico Enterprise-Record, and during the 1950s, she worked as part of the editorial staff of two Seattle magazines.^[2]

Marriage

Martin and Lyon met in Seattle in 1950 when they began working for the same magazine. They became lovers in 1952 and entered into a formal partnership in 1953 when they moved to San Francisco together although technically unable to legally marry.^[1][4][2]

On February 12, 2004, Martin and Lyon were granted the first marriage license given to a same-sex couple in the United States. The license was granted in violation of California state law by the City and County of San Francisco after mayor Gavin Newsom ordered that marriage licenses be given to same-sex couples who requested them.^[5]

The licenses were voided on August 12 2004.

Del is 83 years old and I am 79. After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us. At our age, we do not have the luxury of time.

—Phyllis Lyon

Activism

Daughters of Bilitis

In 1955, Martin and Lyon and six other lesbian women formed the Daughters of Bilitis, the first major lesbian organization in the United States. Lyon was the first editor of DOB's newsletter, The Ladder, beginning in 1956. Martin took over editorship of the newsletter from 1960 to 1962, and was then replaced by other editors until the newsletter ended its connection with the Daughters of Bilitis in 1970. ^[1][2]

Within five years of its origin, the Daughters of Bilitis had chapters around the country, including Chicago, New York, New Orleans, San Diego, Los Angeles, Detroit, Denver, Cleveland and Philadelphia. There were 500 subscribers to "The Ladder," but far more readers, as copies were circulated among women who were reluctant to put their names to a subscription list. ^[5]

Lyon and Martin remained leaders of the DOB until the late 1960s, when they were replaced by women who were perceived as more radical and who had different goals for the organization. The Daughters of Bilitis disbanded not long after Martin and Lyon's leadership ended.^[5]

National Organization for Women

Martin and Lyon have been active in the National Organization for Women (NOW) since 1967. Del Martin was the first openly lesbian woman elected to NOW.^[3] Lyon and Martin worked to combat the homophobia they perceived in NOW, and encouraged the National Board of Directors of NOW's 1971 resolution that lesbian issues were feminist issues.^[5]

Alice B Toklas Democratic Club

In 1972, Lyon and Martin worked with others to establish the Alice B Toklas Memorial Democratic Club, which helped lesbians seeking public office.

Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services

The Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services, founded in San Francisco in 1979, is named for them.

Old Lesbians Organizing for Change

In 1989, Martin and Lyon joined Old Lesbians Organizing for Change.

Senior activists

In 1995 Martin and Lyon were named delegates to the White House Conference on Aging. Martin by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Lyon by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Documentary: No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

In 2003 filmmaker Joan E. Biren released a documentary film on the couple, No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, available from Frameline.

Writing

In 1972, Lyon and Martin published Lesbian/Woman, a book about lesbian life in modern America.

In 1973, they released Lesbian Love and Liberation, about lesbians and sexual liberty.

In 1979, Martin wrote Battered Wives, which blamed American domestic violence on institutionalized misogyny.^[5]

Footnotes

See also

• San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings

Further reading

• Bullough, Vern L. (ed.) Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context, Harrington Park Press, 2002.
• Gallo, Marcia M. Different Daughters: A history of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Birth of the Lesbian Rights Movement, Carroll & Graf, 2006. [1]

External links

• On pre-Stonewall Activism
• The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

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