Gay News Bits (Free subscription) | 10/12/2009
Today’s LGBT History Month post: An introduction to the Daughters of Bilitis and ‘The Ladder’. In 1955, Phyllis Lyon, her partner Del Martin, and a number of other women got together in San Francisco and formed the first national lesbian organization in America. They named the group, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) and it was formed [...]
Pam's House Blend (Free subscription) | 06/15/2009
Mark your calendars for this rarity -- I have to say that on this one, HRC's Joe Solmonese has politely delivered a strong message . After tepid, technical responses by most of our advocacy orgs to the heinous anti-gay DOMA hate brief that the Obama Department of Justice produced the other day, below is a sorely-needed tough letter to the President. This time, your voices got through that clinical...
Box Turtle Bulletin (Free subscription) | 05/27/2009
LGBT civil rights pioneer Phyllis Lyon, along with her partner Del Martin, helpe to found the Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco clear back in 1955. By then, Phyllis and Del had already been together for five years. Their concerns at that time were much simpler than marriage. People were regularly getting fired and thrown [...]
SFist (Free subscription) | 02/13/2009
Five years ago yesterday, the first "I do" heard around the world rang out when Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin exchanged wedding vows in the early morning hours at San Francisco City Hall, prompting the first gay marriage in California state history . Flash forward to today, we see naivety, loathing, and one of the country's lesser states banning said nuptials and allow discrimination in the...
Jelly Pizza (Free subscription) | 11/05/2008
Del Martin [left] and Phyllis Lyon were the first couple to be married in San Francisco This day of joyous celebration, first gay wedding in California With today's devastatingly sad news, I quote Anglachel : One of the big advertising points for Prop. 8 was Obama saying he believed marriage should only be between a man and a woman....He [Obama] said nothing to contradict the use of his name and words...
AfterEllen (Free subscription) | 10/20/2008
Everybody’s doing it. Whether you live in California or not, you know that Proposition 8 is on the November ballot — an effort by anti-gay groups to overturn the right of same-sex couples to marry. Couples like this one, to be exact. Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, June 16, 2008 The good news is that foes of Proposition 8 have come out of the woodwork to help defeat the measure. We’ve...
Sugarbutch Chronicles (Free subscription) | 10/20/2008
What a better place to start on the 8against8 activist week than to highlight the first lesbian couple to be wed in California after the state’s Supreme Court overturned the ban on same-sex marriage in May of 2008. In June, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were legally wed after being together for over fifty years. UCLA’s [...]
Gay South Florida (Free subscription) | 10/02/2008
(Come back tomorrow. This video changes daily.) THE ICONS 1. Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon 2. Stephen Sondheim 3. Gianni Versace 4. Sheila Kuehl 5. Tennessee Williams 6. Alice Walker 7. Greg Louganis 8. Bertrand Delanoë 9. Margaret Mead 10....
bilerico.com (Free subscription) | 10/02/2008
iPhone users: Click to watch We're very pleased to open our 17th season with a new 30 minute format. This month's episode concludes with Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco presiding at the nuptials of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, long-time partners and lesbian activists, who after more than 50 years together could finally say, "We're married." Sadly, Del passed away just over two months...
Civic Center (Free subscription) | 10/02/2008
San Francisco's City Hall was the setting for a "Civic Celebration of the Life of Del Martin" on Wednesday afternoon... ...which was attended by various dignitaries along with thousands of well-wishers, most of them lesbian. The recently deceased Del Martin and her partner Phyllis Lyon founded most of the important early lesbian political organizations in San Francisco, starting with the...
INSTAPUTZ (Free subscription) | 10/01/2008
Because he didn't say, " yes. " Blade: Del Martin died on Aug. 27. She and Phyllis Lyon, her partner of 55 years, got married in the first legal gay union in California in June —affording Phyllis many of the basic protections and rights granted to married couples, such as hospital visitation and estate planning issues. Do you envision a time when all GLBT citizens will have similar...
Joe. My. God. (Free subscription) | 10/01/2008
John McCain has responded to a list of LGBT-related questions submitted by the Washington Blade . In his responses, McCain speaks fondly of such noted gay figures as former Rep. Jim Kolby (R-AZ), lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, and Mark Bingham, at whose funeral McCain spoke. Unfortunately, the submitted questions do not mention McCain chief of staff Mark Buse, but McCain says this about...
Pam's House Blend (Free subscription) | 09/16/2008
There's a great teaser of an interview with the widow of legendary activist Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, by Amy Cavenaugh at the Wash Blade : But the 83-year-old widow said she's "doing all right" despite Martin's death Aug. 27, in part because she has "an awful lot of friends around" and has received "incredible" support. "I've gotten cards from people we knew, and...
Gay South Florida (Free subscription) | 09/09/2008
News release: “From Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon on October 1st to Michelangelo on October 31st, the 31 Icons for 2008 combined, with the 62 Icons for GLBT History Month 2006 and 2007, are impressive,” stated Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director,...
PrawfsBlawg (Free subscription) | 09/02/2008
Our beautiful city’s light is dimmed this week, for loss of a wonderful citizen. We have lost Del Martin, who passed away this week at the age of 87, leaving behind her wife and partner of fifty-five years, Phyllis Lyon (image source: New York Times), as well as family and friends. The NYT piece provides a good overview of Martin’s amazing life, the many organizations she formed and contributed...
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