The Passing of a Pioneer

Dell Martin, 87 died on August 27, 2008 in San Francisco California. In 1955 Martin her partner Phyllis Lyon and six other lesbians founded the first lesbian rights organization in the nation. Dell Martin and Phyllis Lyon were the first same sex couple to be married in California in 2008. In 1955 the couple founded the Daughters of Bilitis an organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbians. The  Daughters of Bilitis was originally formed as a social club and the name Bilitis came from French author Pierre Louy’s turn of the century literary work that included love poems between women. After becoming familiar with the Mattachine Society and ONE Martin and Lyon decided that the organization should be more than a social club. It’s aim would be to promote the “integration of the homosexual into society” through “the education of the variant” and of “the public at large.” (Its statement of purpose avoided the words lesbian or gay woman, preferring variant instead.) The Ladder was published in 1956 and was the first magazine by, for and about lesbians.

Throughout their decades of activism, Martin and Lyon made the vital connections among comunities and movements, engaging in social justice advocacy projects that included, anti-war, civil rights, anti-poverty, HIV/AIDS, and women’s health and empowerment. In 1964 they participated in the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, the first organizing in this country to forge a welcoming place for LGBT people in faith communities. Martin along with Lyon published two ground breaking books,  Lesbian /Women, in 1972 which was named by Publisher’s Weekly in 1992 as one of the 20 most influential women’s books of the past 20 years, and Battered Wives, in 1976 that inspired grassroots organizing to end domestic violence. A health clinic the Lyon-Martin Health Services was named in the couple’s honor. The clinic emphasis is on the health of lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. To read a full obituary that is posted on QueerToday click here.

For an excellent article 1955: First lesbian organization rises on waves of militant sturggles, written by Leslie Feinberg for the Lavender and Red series click here.

For another excellent article written by Leslie Feinberg’s see, 1955: Lesbian organizing and ‘red feminism’ click here.

For more information on the early Gay and Lesbian movement see Out of The Past, Gay and Lesbian History fro 1869 to the present written by gay scholar Neil Miller. See The Homophiles, Chapter 22, pages 332-358.