Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
couple known as feminist and gay-rights activists. They were a couple until Del Martin's death on August 27, 2008.
Martin and Lyon met in 1950, became lovers in 1952, and moved in together on Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
1953 in an apartment on Castro Street in San Francisco. They had been together for three years when they founded the Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
(DOB) in San Francisco in 1955, which became the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States. They both acted as president and editor of The Ladder
The Ladder (magazine)
The Ladder was the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. It was published monthly from 1956 to 1970, and once every other month in 1971 and 1972. It was the primary publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization...
until 1963, and remained involved in the DOB until joining the National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
(NOW) as the first lesbian couple to do so.
Both women worked to form the Council on Religion and the Homosexual
Council on Religion and the Homosexual
The Council on Religion and the Homosexual was a San Francisco-based organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of joining homosexual activists and religious leaders.-Formation:...
(CRH) in northern California to persuade ministers to accept homosexuals into churches, and 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
Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club
The Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club is a San Francisco-based association and political action committee for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Democrats. Founded in 1971 by activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Alice was the first organization for gay Democrats in the United States. It...
, which influenced Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
to sponsor a citywide bill to outlaw employment discrimination for gays and lesbians. Both served in the White House Conference on Aging
White House Conference on Aging
The White House Conference on Aging is a once-a-decade conference sponsored by the Executive Office of the President of the United States which makes policy recommendations to the president and Congress regarding the aged. The first of its kind,the goals of the conference are to promote the...
in 1995.
They were married on June 16, 2008 in the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco after the California Supreme Court's decision in In re Marriage Cases
In re Marriage Cases
In re Marriage Cases 43 Cal.4th 757 [76 Cal.Rptr.3d 683, 183 P.3d 384], was a California Supreme Court case with the dual holding that "statutes that treat persons differently because of their sexual orientation should be subjected to strict scrutiny" and the existing "California legislative and...
legalized same-sex marriage in California
Same-sex marriage in California
The status of same-sex marriage in California is unique among the 50 U.S. states, in that the state formerly granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but has discontinued doing so...
. Martin died from complications of an arm bone fracture
Bone fracture
A bone fracture is a medical condition in which there is a break in the continuity of the bone...
in San Francisco.
Del Martin
Del Martin was born as Dorothy Louise Taliaferro on May 5, 1921, in San Francisco. She was the first salutatorianSalutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...
to graduate from George Washington High School
George Washington High School (San Francisco)
George Washington High School is a public high school in Richmond District, San Francisco, California. The school is a part of the San Francisco Unified School District...
. She was educated at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and at San Francisco State College, where she studied journalism, and she earned a Doctor of Arts
Doctor of Arts
The Doctor of Arts is a discipline-based terminal doctoral degree that was originally conceived and designed to be an alternative to the traditional research-based Doctor of Philosophy and the education-based Doctor of Education . Like other doctorates, the D.A. is an academic degree of the...
degree from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality
Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality
The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality is a non-accredited degree-granting institution and resource center in the field of sexology located in San Francisco, California. Degree and certificate programs focus on public health, sex therapy, and sexological research...
. She was married for four years to James Martin and retained his name after their divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. She had one daughter, Kendra Mon. Martin died on August 27, 2008 at UCSF Hospice in San Francisco from complications of an arm bone fracture
Bone fracture
A bone fracture is a medical condition in which there is a break in the continuity of the bone...
. She was 87 years old. Her wife, Phyllis, was at her side. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom ordered that the flags at City Hall be flown at half-staff in her honor.
Phyllis Lyon
Phyllis Lyon was born on November 10, 1924 in Tulsa, OklahomaTulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. She holds a degree in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, earned in 1946. During the 1940s, she worked as a reporter for the Chico Enterprise-Record
Chico Enterprise-Record
The Chico Enterprise-Record is the daily newspaper of Chico, California. Also known as the E-R, the newspaper was first published in Bidwell Bar, California as the Butte Record in 1853 and is now part of the MediaNews Group corporation, who took control of the paper from Donrey in 1999...
, and during the 1950s, she worked as part of the editorial staff of two Seattle magazines.
Background/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 partnership in 1953 when they moved to San Francisco together. Many years later, Lyon and Martin recalled how they learned to live together in 1953. "We really only had problems our first year together. Del would leave her shoes in the middle of the room, and I'd throw them out the window," said Lyon, to which Martin responded, "You'd have an argument with me and try to storm out the door. I had to teach you to fight back."On February 12, 2004, Martin and Lyon were issued a marriage license by the City and County of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
after mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
ordered
San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings
The San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings took place between February 12 and March 11, 2004. Newly-elected San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom gained international attention and attracted controversy when he issued a directive to the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples...
that marriage licenses be given to same-sex couples who requested them.
The license, along with those of several thousand other same-sex couples, were voided by the California Supreme Court
Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
on August 12, 2004.
However, they were married again on June 16, 2008, after the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was legal. Once again they were the first couple married in San Francisco, in fact the only couple married that day by the mayor.
Daughters of Bilitis
In 1955, Martin and Lyon and six other lesbian women formed the Daughters of BilitisDaughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
(DOB), the first national lesbian organization in the United States. Lyon was the first editor of DOB's newsletter, The Ladder
The Ladder (magazine)
The Ladder was the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. It was published monthly from 1956 to 1970, and once every other month in 1971 and 1972. It was the primary publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization...
, 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.
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. For their pioneering work on The Ladder, Martin and Lyon were among the first inductees into the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame, which was established in 2005 by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. Lyon and Martin remained involved in the DOB until the late 1960s. The Daughters of Bilitis, which had taken a conservative approach to helping lesbians deal with society, disbanded in 1970 due to the rise of more radical activism.
National Organization for Women
Martin and Lyon have been active in the National Organization for WomenNational Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
(NOW) since 1967. Del Martin was the first openly lesbian woman elected to NOW. Lyon and Martin worked to combat the homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
they perceived in NOW, and encouraged the National Board of Directors of NOW's 1971 resolution that lesbian issues were feminist issues.
Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club
The Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, named after San Francisco-born author Alice B. ToklasAlice B. Toklas
Alice B. Toklas was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century.-Early life, relationship with Gertrude Stein:...
, was formed on Valentine's Day 1972 at the offices of the Society for Individual Rights near 6th and Market Streets in San Francisco. The founding member was James Foster, who was the first openly gay man to speak at a national political convention. He spoke to the need for inclusion of gays and lesbians in the political process. Though Lyon and Martin were not able to attend this first meeting, they became members soon thereafter. The first motion the club passed was in support of the marijuana initiative. Among the founding members were Gary Miller and Ron Bentley. The purpose of the club is to support candidates who are supportive of gay and lesbian rights and help them get elected to public office. Among its earlier presidents were Jo Daly and Gary Miller (1975). In 1975 the club endorsed George Moscone
George Moscone
George Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as...
for mayor over Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
. The club changed its name to the Alice B. Toklas Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club.
Lyon-Martin Health Services
Lyon-Martin Health Services was founded in 1979 by a group of medical providers and health activists as a clinic for lesbians who lacked access to non-judgmental and affordable health care. Named after Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, the clinic soon became a model for culturally-sensitive community-based health care. Since 1993, Lyon-Martin also has provided case management and primary healthcare in programs specifically designed for very low-income and uninsured women with HIVHIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
.
Senior activists
In 1989, Martin and Lyon joined Old Lesbians Organizing for ChangeOld Lesbians Organizing for Change
Old Lesbians Organizing For Change is a national organization founded in 1989 that educates and empowers American lesbians over the age of 60 to oppose ageism in their lives and their communities....
. In 1995 they were named delegates to the White House Conference on Aging
White House Conference on Aging
The White House Conference on Aging is a once-a-decade conference sponsored by the Executive Office of the President of the United States which makes policy recommendations to the president and Congress regarding the aged. The first of its kind,the goals of the conference are to promote the...
, Martin by Senator Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
and Lyon by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
.
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.
Documentary films
In 2003 filmmaker JEB (Joan E. BirenJoan E. Biren
Joan E. Biren or JEB , is an internationally recognized documentary artist. Her photographic and film work has chronicled the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people for more than 30 years, bringing them a new visibility.-Filmography:JEB’s films include No Secret Anymore: The Times...
) released a documentary film on the couple, No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, available from Frameline and broadcast on both the Sundance Channel and PBS. The 1993 documentary Last Call at Maud's also featured Martin and Lyon.
Archival sources
The extensive records of Lyon and Martin's professional and activist pursuits—including the administrative files of the Daughters of Bilitis—are preserved at the GLBT Historical SocietyGLBT Historical Society
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society maintains an extensive archive of materials relating to the history of LGBT people in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California...
in San Francisco. The collection is fully processed and is available for use by researchers. The Online Archive of California (a project of the California Digital Library
California Digital Library
The California Digital Library is the University of California's 11th University Library. The CDL was founded to assist the ten University of California libraries in sharing their resources and holdings more effectively, in part through negotiating and acquiring consortial licenses on behalf of...
) offers the complete finding aid.