Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon
April 18, 2020 (makinggayhistory.org)

On April 9, LGBTQ civil rights pioneer Phyllis Lyon died at age 95. That’s Phyllis, at right above, with her life partner, Del Martin, during their 2008 wedding ceremony. Phyllis and Del were the first couple to get married in San Francisco after the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was legal (then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, seen in the background, officiated).

By the time of their wedding, Phyllis and Del had been making lesbian history for decades—starting in 1955, when they co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis, the first organization for lesbians. The 2003 documentary No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon offers a loving portrait of the two women and a record of the remarkable breadth and longevity of their activism. It was directed by Joan E. Biren, or JEB, the pioneering LGBTQ photographer and filmmaker. Click the image above to watch the trailer.

For more on Phyllis, read her New York Times obituary here and listen to my interview with her and Del in this MGH episode.

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