LGBTQ civil rights icon Phyllis Lyon died yesterday from natural causes at her home in San Francisco. She was 95. She and her spouse Del Martin were the first same-sex couple to marry legally in San Francisco in 2008—but her contribution to LGBTQ equality goes far beyond that.
Among her many accomplishments, Lyon (along with Martin) was in 1955 one of the eight founders of Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first political lesbian rights organization in the United States. In 1956, the organization held the first known discussion groups on lesbian motherhood. In 2004, she and Martin, who were together for over five decades, were also the first to wed when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began marrying couples—marriages that were then revoked by the state. The couple were then among the plaintiffs in the 2008 case in which the state Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples have the right to marry. They wed in June of that year, just two months before Martin’s death.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), which represented the couple in the 2008 case, adds this about Lyon’s life:
Phyllis began her work in civil rights activism after she received a degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley in 1946. Shortly after graduating, Lyon met her partner Del and the two began working on behalf of lesbians in their community. Lyon and Martin both devoted their lives to working towards full LGBTQ equality, healthcare access, advocacy on behalf of battered women, and issues facing elderly Americans. Their many contributions over the past five decades helped shape the modern LGBTQ movement.
Lyon and Del are credited by the venerable Reverend Cecil Williams for helping shape an LGBTQ-inclusive vision for Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco—including programs that helped shelter and protect LGBTQ youth who sought refuge in San Francisco to avoid discrimination and persecution in their hometowns. The couple was also co-founders of the Daughter of Bilitis, the first political and social organization for Lesbian in the United States. In 1956, they launched “The Ladder,” the first lesbian newsletter, which became a lifeline for hundreds of women isolated and silenced by the restrictions of the era. Activists established Lyon-Martin Health Services named in honor of Phyllis and Del in 1979.
Former NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, who became close friends with the couple, observes that “Few individuals did more to advance women’s and LGBTQ rights than Phyllis Lyon…. After Del’s death in August of 2008, I still had Phyllis in my life, even as dementia took a lot of her memory, she never lost her spirit, joy or sense of humor. I will miss her every day, but am comforted knowing she and Del are finally together again.”
As current NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon, put it, “Her activism changed what we thought was possible, and her strength inspired us. Her vision helped forge our path and made organizations like NCLR possible. And although the path is lonelier without her, we know the way because of her.”
You can also teach young children a little about these remarkable women through Gayle Pitman’s picture book When You Look Out the Window (Magination Press), which shows how they fell in love, bought a house, and worked to transform San Francisco and its LGBTQ community.
My deepest condolences to Lyon’s family and friends. Her family has requested that gifts in her honor be made to the Lyon-Martin Health Clinic.
Below is a trailer from One Wedding and a Revolution, the film by Academy Award-winning director (and lesbian mom) Debra Chasnoff, about the couple and the fight for marriage equality in California. It is but a small glimpse into the life of a pioneer and hero.
