Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
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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.
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[edit] 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 and at San Francisco State College, where she studied journalism, and she has a PhD 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]
[edit] Phyllis Lyon
Phyllis Lyon was born November 10, 1924 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[4] She holds a degree in journalism from the University of California at 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]
[edit] Daughters of Bilitis
In 1955, Martin and Lyons 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 1970, when they were replaced by younger, more radical women with different goals for the organization. The Daughters of Bilitis disbanded not long after Martin and Lyon's leadership ended.[5]
[edit] Activism
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 NOW's 1971 resolution that lesbian issues were feminist issues.[5]
In 1972, Lyon and Martin worked to establish the Alice B Toklas Memorial Democratic Club, which helped lesbians seeking public office.Alice B Toklas Memorial Democratic Club
The Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services, founded in San Francisco in 1979, is named for them.
In 1989, Martin and Lyon joined Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. 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. 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.
[edit] 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 marriage and institutionalized misogyny.[5]
[edit] Relationship
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 more formal partnership on 1953, when they moved to San Francisco together.[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 Newsome ordered that marriage licenses be given to same-sex couples who requested them.[5]
The licenses were voided on August 12 of that year. Ms. Lyon reacted, saying:
- "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."
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b c Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Del Martin", About. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ a b c d "Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon", The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Religious Archives Network, 2005-08-04. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ a b Belge, Kathy. "Del Martin", About. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ a b Belge, Kathy. "Phyllis Lyon", About. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ a b c d e Gianoulis, Tina. "Lyon, Phyllis, and Del Martin", glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture, 2004-03-04. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Bullough, Vern L. (ed.) Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context, Harrington Park Press, 2002.
