Skip to content
FacebookTwitter
  • Contact Us
  • Home
Veteran Feminists of America Logo Veteran Feminists of America Logo
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • History
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact Us
  • The Banner
  • Pioneer Feminists
    • Database of Pioneer Histories
    • Pioneer Histories Project-Join Us
    • Our Fabulous Feminists
    • Obituaries
  • Events
    • Gallery
  • The Arts
    • Film
    • Artists
  • Books
    • Feminists Who Changed America
  • Archive
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • History
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact Us
  • The Banner
  • Pioneer Feminists
    • Database of Pioneer Histories
    • Pioneer Histories Project-Join Us
    • Our Fabulous Feminists
    • Obituaries
  • Events
    • Gallery
  • The Arts
    • Film
    • Artists
  • Books
    • Feminists Who Changed America
  • Archive
VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT: DEL MARTIN AND PHYLLIS LYONveteranfeminists2023-06-17T16:13:52-04:00

THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

Del Martin: May 5, 1921-August 27, 2008

Phyllis Lyon: November 10, 1924-April 9, 2020

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were lesbian pioneers and activists. They co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955 and dedicated their lives to fighting for LGBTQ rights. They were active in the struggle for marriage equality and, in 2008, became the first same-sex couple legally married in California. Co-wrote two books: Lesbian/Woman (1972), which won a Stonewall Book Award, and Lesbian Love and Liberation (1973). Among the first lesbians to join the National Organization for Women, Ms. Martin was later elected to its board of directors. The couple also helped form the Council on Religion and the Homosexual to persuade ministers to accept lesbians and gay men into churches. Members of the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, San Francisco’s first gay political organization, which influenced the passage of a bill to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 1979, local activists established the Lyon-Martin Health Services, a health care provider, in San Francisco. 

Photo. Phyllis Lyon, right, getting married to Del Martin at a wedding ceremony officiated by then Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco in 2008 (Photo Credit Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press).

Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin as Grand Marshals of the 1989 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade.

More About Del and Phyllis:

  • Phyllis Lyon obituary, New York Times
  • Del Martin obituary, New York Times
  • “The Incredible Story of Del and Phyllis,” by Gracie Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, July 30, 2021
  • “Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin, Making Gay History,” The Podcast
  • Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin papers. Collection Number: 1993-13. GLBT Historical Society
  • The LGBTQ Religious Archives Network
  • GLBT Historical Society
  • Cited in Barbara Love’s book, Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975, Del Martin, advisory board, Phyllis Lyons pages 289-290
  • Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon Wikipedia page

FOLLOW US:

Join Our Mailing List
Join VFA/Renew
Donate to the VFA
Legacy Planning
Contribute Artifacts

Questions? Email:
vfa@veteranfeministsofamerica.org

Technical Issues Only:
webmaster@veteranfeministsofamerica.org

Copyright 2020 | All Rights Reserved Veteran Feminists of America | All submissions are welcome. The VFA reserves the right to edit, post or decline.
Page load link
Go to Top