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Cherokee Nation Upholds Lesbian Marriage
Another
First for
Martin and Lyon
 women's history month |
Another First for Martin and Lyon |
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon made history – again – when they became the nation’s first same-sex couple to wed in San Francisco on February 12, 2004. Their marriage was revoked a few months later, along with the nearly 4,000 others performed for same-sex couples in San Francisco. The lesbian couple had been together for 51 years when they were, briefly, married.
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon count many "firsts" among their accomplishments. Both were young journalists when they met in 1950 at a Seattle publishing house where they both worked. They became friends and later became romantically involved, moving together to San Francisco in 1952.
Along with several other lesbian couples, Martin and Lyon were founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, established in 1955 as the country’s first organization to work specifically for lesbians’ social and political rights. The DOB was somewhat discreetly named after "Songs of Bilitis," a book by Pierre Louy that included lesbian love poems. Membership in the DOB, at least at first, was secret.
The couple later founded "The Ladder," the first nationwide lesbian newsletter in the U.S. Lyon, using a pseudonym, first edited The Ladder, and was later succeeded in that role by Martin.
Lyon and Martin joined the National Organization for Women in the 1960’s. However, the couple left NOW, an organization of mostly heterosexual women, in the late 1970's over "homophobic concerns." They rejoined NOW in 1988, at which time they received a warmer welcome from their straight sisters.
In 1972, Lyon and Martin were primary organizers of the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club, established in order to help lesbians get elected to public office. In 1973, Lyon and Martin published their book "Lesbian Love and Liberation." They also wrote "Lesbian/Woman" together, and Martin later wrote "Battered Wives."
In their later years, Martin and Lyon (born in 1921 and 1924 respectively) have worked on issues related to aging. They were named as delegates to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995.
In 2003, filmmaker Joan E. Biren released a documentary film called "No Secret Anymore – The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon." The couple was also honored when the Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services in San Francisco was named after them.