Politics

Lesbian Activist Who Was First To Wed In SF Dies

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― Pioneering lesbian rights activist Del Martin, who married her lifelong partner in June on the first day that same-sex couples in California gained that right, died Wednesday. She was 87.

Martin's death occured at a hospice at the University of California, San Francisco hospital, two weeks after a broken arm exacerbated her existing health problems.

Her wife, Phyllis Lyon, 83, was by her side.

"Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn't be by my side," Lyon said. "I also never imagined there would be a day that we would actually be able to get married."

"I am so lucky to have known her, loved her and been her partner in all things," Lyon added. "I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed." 

The couple, who were partners for 55 years, were married at San Francisco City Hall on June 16.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, who officiated the wedding, singled them out to be the first gay couple to legally exchange vows in California, in recognition of their activism.
 
"The greatest way we can honor the life work of Del Martin, is to continue to fight and never give up, until we have achieved equality for all," Newsom said Wednesday.

Martin and Lyon similarly served as the public faces of the marriage debate four years earlier, when Newsom in 2004 challenged California's one man-one woman marriage laws by directing city officials to issue licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Their marriage, along with those of almost 4,000 other couples, were invalidated later by the California Supreme Court.

The action laid the groundwork for the landmark lawsuits that ultimately led a 4-3 majority of the same court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage in May.

"We would not have marriage equality in California if it weren't for Del and Phyllis. They fought and triumphed in many battles," said U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco. "Through it all, their love and commitment to each other was an inspiration to all who knew them."

In 1995, Pelosi and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein named Martin and Lyon as delegates for the White House Conference on Aging.

Along with six other women, the couple had founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis.
 
The Daughters of Bilitis was named after an obscure book of lesbian erotic poetry first published in Paris in 1894. It was initially organized to provide secret mutual support and social activities.

Over the years, the group worked on causes including gay rights and advocacy on behalf of battered women and elderly Americans. Under Martin and Lyon's leadership, the group evolved into the nation's first lesbian advocacy organization.

An imposing and uncompromising figure, Martin in 1970 wrote an influential article for the Advocate magazine that criticized what she saw as the gay rights movement's persistent chauvinism. The schism, which mirrored the increasing cultural influence of the women's movement, eventually prompted Lyon and Martin to adopt feminism and racism among their causes.

Trained as journalists, they together wrote "Lesbian/Woman," a landmark 1972 book in which they tried to make the point that lesbians should be seen for more than their sexuality and simultaneously offered a frank, no-nonsense account of lesbian relationships.

A year later, Martin became the first out lesbian to serve on the board of directors of the National Organization for Women, a position she won despite opposition within the feminist organization. Critics in the group feared the impact of having a leader that many in the mainstream still viewed as socially deviant.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Donna Hitchens, a founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said, "Del lived her life with great compassion, wit, tenacity, generosity and valor. She inspired thousands of us to be more courageous and energetic than we thought possible."

Martin was born in San Francisco in 1921 as Dorothy L. Taliaferro and attended George Washington High School, the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State College. She married her college sweetheart James Martin at age 19, acquiring the surname she would use the rest of her life. They had a daughter, Kendra, two years after they wed.

The marriage ended in divorce four years later and she met Lyon in Seattle in 1950 when both were working for the same magazine. The two began sharing a household together in San Francisco on Valentine's Day in 1953.

In "Lesbian/Woman," Martin recounted that the growing realization that she was attracted to women initially sparked thoughts of suicide. She eventually worked through her feelings despite the discrimination and threat of arrest gay people faced during the conservative 1950s.

When she started working for a construction trade publication in Seattle, she carried a briefcase without worrying whether it made her appear manly. The briefcase was the first thing Lyon noticed about her future spouse, she always recounted in stories about how the two met.

"Ultimately, it gets down to self-acceptance. If you accept yourself, you don't give a damn what anyone else thinks," Martin said in "No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon," Joan Biren's 2003 documentary about the couple.

Martin is survived by Lyon; her daughter, Kendra Mon, a son-in-law, two grandchildren and her sister-in-law.

In Martin's honor, Newsom ordered the American flags at City Hall and the rainbow flag in the Castro District, the heart of the city's gay and lesbian community, to be flown at half-staff until sundown Thursday.

Plans for a public memorial were still pending.

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