Women's History Month 2004
Mar. 25th, 2004 02:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sff_corgi_ljDel Martin and Phyllis Lyon
Pioneering lesbian rights activists and NOW members Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon made history Feb. 12 in San Francisco when they became the first same-sex couple in the United States to have their marriage recognized by a government entity.
After forming the first national lesbian rights organization, Daughters of Bilitis, in 1955 and joining NOW in the 1960s as one of the few sources of community, Martin and Lyon left the organization over concerns about homophobia in 1979, but rejoined in 1988 and participated in that year's NOW Lesbian Rights Conference. 1
The Daughters of Bilitis (D.O.B.) was the first national organization for lesbians in the United States. It was a huge step foward for the lesbian movement. These brave souls were the first to say "we are gay and we are not ashamed".
Two of the eight women who founded the historic group were a couple by the names of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. They met in 1950 in Seattle and started out as friends. Del was a lesbian and Phyllis her "straight friend". In 1952, they became lovers and in 1953 they moved together to San Francisco. Two years later, they and their friends began the organization which quickly became a driving force in the lesbian movement. The D.O.B. provided lesbians a place to meet outside of bars, a way to document their lives and a forum to promote civil rights. The group put out a national newsletter for their members, with Phyllis as the editor, called The Ladder. It was the beginning of the ongoing battle lesbians face to be recognized as "legitimate couples". 2
After wrangling with N.O.W., the couple turned their energies to writing Lesbian/Woman. Published in 1972, it described lesbian lives in a positive, knowledgeable way almost unknown at the time. Publishers Weekly chose it as one of the 20 most influential women's books of the last 20 years (the 70s and 80s).
In 1972, they helped to set up the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club. They have been influential in getting women and lesbians on the San Francisco police force, in the fire department, and elected and appointed to public office.
Del was a key member of a campaign that resulted in the historic 1973 decision of the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders. For the first time in history, lesbians and gay men were not classified as deviant. This served as a catalyst, raising consciousness for the recognition of lesbians and homosexuals as human beings.
Del went on to author Battered Wives in 1976, on the subject of domestic violence. The book acted as a catalyst for the establishment of a network of battered women's shelters. Phyllis began a new career in sex education and became co-director of the National Sex Forum, which originated the use of explicitly sexual films as a teaching tool. Later she was a co-founding faculty member of The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, a graduate school which grants doctoral and other degrees in sexology. 5
In 1979, Martin and Lyon founded the "Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services" clinic on Market Street. It began as an all volunteer clinic, the first of its kind, to fill a need for lesbians who were not accessing the health care system due to possible homophobia, ignorance, discrimination or intimidation. The clinic's mission statement is "Provide quality, affordable, nonjudgmental, comprehensive health care and health education for women, by women. We are committed to serving all women with a focus on lesbians and special outreach to women of color, low income women, older women and women with disabilities." 3
On February 13, 2003, No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon premiered in San Francisco. Filmmaker Joan E. Biren began making the documentary in 1999 and was still editing it almost all the way up to the first screening. 4 Produced by Academy Award Nominee Dee Mosbacher, No Secret Anymore follows the couple through six decades, tracing the emergence of lesbians from the fear of discovery to the expectation of equality.
While some might rest on their laurels, Phyllis and Del forge on. They are now involved with Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC), dealing with ageism, and are working on the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender elders. Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Nancy Pelosi appointed Del and Phyllis respectively as delegates to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. They raised issues related to sexual orientation and made sure their demands were part of the Conference record. 5
1 http://www.now.org/issues/lgbi/021304lyon-martin.html
2 http://www.geocities.com/mycauses/legend.html
3 http://www.sfccc.org/clinics/lmwhs.htm
4 http://www.noevalleyvoice.com/2003/February/Lyon.html
5 http://woman-vision.org/nosecret/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15518-2004Feb28.html
Today's profile brought to you by Tetsubo Productions and 'Dinner Theatre', coming soon to a Quicktime window near you!
Pioneering lesbian rights activists and NOW members Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon made history Feb. 12 in San Francisco when they became the first same-sex couple in the United States to have their marriage recognized by a government entity.
After forming the first national lesbian rights organization, Daughters of Bilitis, in 1955 and joining NOW in the 1960s as one of the few sources of community, Martin and Lyon left the organization over concerns about homophobia in 1979, but rejoined in 1988 and participated in that year's NOW Lesbian Rights Conference. 1
The Daughters of Bilitis (D.O.B.) was the first national organization for lesbians in the United States. It was a huge step foward for the lesbian movement. These brave souls were the first to say "we are gay and we are not ashamed".
Two of the eight women who founded the historic group were a couple by the names of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. They met in 1950 in Seattle and started out as friends. Del was a lesbian and Phyllis her "straight friend". In 1952, they became lovers and in 1953 they moved together to San Francisco. Two years later, they and their friends began the organization which quickly became a driving force in the lesbian movement. The D.O.B. provided lesbians a place to meet outside of bars, a way to document their lives and a forum to promote civil rights. The group put out a national newsletter for their members, with Phyllis as the editor, called The Ladder. It was the beginning of the ongoing battle lesbians face to be recognized as "legitimate couples". 2
After wrangling with N.O.W., the couple turned their energies to writing Lesbian/Woman. Published in 1972, it described lesbian lives in a positive, knowledgeable way almost unknown at the time. Publishers Weekly chose it as one of the 20 most influential women's books of the last 20 years (the 70s and 80s).
In 1972, they helped to set up the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club. They have been influential in getting women and lesbians on the San Francisco police force, in the fire department, and elected and appointed to public office.
Del was a key member of a campaign that resulted in the historic 1973 decision of the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders. For the first time in history, lesbians and gay men were not classified as deviant. This served as a catalyst, raising consciousness for the recognition of lesbians and homosexuals as human beings.
Del went on to author Battered Wives in 1976, on the subject of domestic violence. The book acted as a catalyst for the establishment of a network of battered women's shelters. Phyllis began a new career in sex education and became co-director of the National Sex Forum, which originated the use of explicitly sexual films as a teaching tool. Later she was a co-founding faculty member of The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, a graduate school which grants doctoral and other degrees in sexology. 5
In 1979, Martin and Lyon founded the "Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services" clinic on Market Street. It began as an all volunteer clinic, the first of its kind, to fill a need for lesbians who were not accessing the health care system due to possible homophobia, ignorance, discrimination or intimidation. The clinic's mission statement is "Provide quality, affordable, nonjudgmental, comprehensive health care and health education for women, by women. We are committed to serving all women with a focus on lesbians and special outreach to women of color, low income women, older women and women with disabilities." 3
On February 13, 2003, No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon premiered in San Francisco. Filmmaker Joan E. Biren began making the documentary in 1999 and was still editing it almost all the way up to the first screening. 4 Produced by Academy Award Nominee Dee Mosbacher, No Secret Anymore follows the couple through six decades, tracing the emergence of lesbians from the fear of discovery to the expectation of equality.
While some might rest on their laurels, Phyllis and Del forge on. They are now involved with Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC), dealing with ageism, and are working on the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender elders. Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Nancy Pelosi appointed Del and Phyllis respectively as delegates to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. They raised issues related to sexual orientation and made sure their demands were part of the Conference record. 5
1 http://www.now.org/issues/lgbi/021304lyon-martin.html
2 http://www.geocities.com/mycauses/legend.html
3 http://www.sfccc.org/clinics/lmwhs.htm
4 http://www.noevalleyvoice.com/2003/February/Lyon.html
5 http://woman-vision.org/nosecret/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15518-2004Feb28.html
Today's profile brought to you by Tetsubo Productions and 'Dinner Theatre', coming soon to a Quicktime window near you!
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Date: 2004-03-25 02:43 am (UTC)