Oh no! Del Martin, one of the plaintiffs in California's landmark gay marriage case, has died.
Martin and her longtime lady love, Phyllis Lyon, fought tirelessly for the right to wed and finally got their wish this June, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated their well-publicized celebration. Martin, whom you can see on the left, was 87 years old.
In honor of Martin's life of civil rights activism, here's an excerpt from a 1956 essay she wrote in The Ladder, a lesbian magazine Martin and Lyon edited.
…The lesbian is a very elusive creature. She burrows underground in her fear of identification. She is cautious in her associations. Current modes in hair style and casual attire have enabled her to camouflage her existence. She claims she does not need help. And she will not risk her tight little fist of security to aid those who do.But surely the ground work has been well laid in the past 5½ years. Homosexuality is not the dirty word it used to be. More and more people, professional and lay, are becoming aware of its meaning and implications.
Lyon was reportedly by her wife's side when she finally bid the world adieu.
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This is so sad. At least she lived to see the day when she could legally get married to Miss Lyon. "Just in time.." as the tune goes.
Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin have been inspirations to me since I came out 22 years ago. Rest in peace.
We've lost something special today.
This is truly Tragic, but I'm so glad she was able to marry before her wedding day. My friend attended the reception and said they were a remarkable couple.
!! A HERO HAS DIED BUT SHE WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN !!
Sad, indeed. RIP dear lady.
Our hero, this has to be a mourning day for all Gay people. Phyllis my heart goes to you. You don't know how much yours and your wife's life has meant to me. We can't in no way occupy her place but know that you have many many people who truthfully love you and are grieving with you this loss.
First Tubbs Jones, now Martin? This is depressing.
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are heroines of the most amazing courageous and brave kind that there ever will be!!
I am glad that they were legally married.
May Ms. Del Martin rest in peace and my heart goes out to her wife Phyllis Lyon.
It truly is a sad day but may we celebrate Ms. Martin's life well lived as a pioneer in the GLBT community. May you rest with the Angels and watch over your beloved Phyllis and we are all very blessed by all that both of these remarkable heroines achieved for our community.
Now, I will shed my tears, say a prayer and send out condolences to Ms. Lyon and hope she knows our thoughts and prayers go with her.
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are heroines of the most amazing courageous and brave kind that there ever will be!!
I am glad that they were legally married.
May Ms. Del Martin rest in peace and my heart goes out to her wife Phyllis Lyon.
It truly is a sad day but may we celebrate Ms. Martin's life well lived as a pioneer in the GLBT community. May you rest with the Angels and watch over your beloved Phyllis and we are all very blessed by all that both of these remarkable heroines achieved for our community.
Now, I will shed my tears, say a prayer and send out condolences to Ms. Lyon and hope she knows our thoughts and prayers go with her.
I am neither sad nor depressed for the passing of Ms. Martin. She lived a full life and had a life full of love from her life partner. I am sure she would want us to clebrate her life with joy and recognize that she has now moved to the next stage of her development.
She would also probably puke on Churchill-y's face if she was aware of the vile and obnoxious filth that he says on this blog.
My sympathy to Phyliss, we all share your loss
Phyllis…mis spell my apologies
a song that helped me through my partner's death 18 years ago
There are many many crazy things
That will keep me loving you
And with your permission
May I list a few
The way you wear your hat
The way you sip your tea
The memory of all that
No they cant take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No they cant take that away from me
We may never never meet again, on that bumpy road to love
But Ill always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No they cant take that away from me
Tears of joy and gratitude are streaming down my face as I write this. My joy is that this great lady was able to have her wedding day, completely legal as she and Phyllis fought for. Grateful because if it were not for this great couple my partner and I would not have known the joy of our own marriage in San Francisco earlier this month.
Del and Phyllis will not only go down as 2 of the most important participants in Gay history, but also 2 of the most important participants in the history of civil rights.
I hope all of us will send our prayers and love toward Phyllis in her time of grief. We owe them both so much.
And Obama and Hillary tell us that marriage is between one man and one women. How do they live with themselves when there were two Angels, both women who have shown us otherwise.
Through them we have been shown that it is worth the fight, that
we don't have to settle and we don't have to wait for some magical
presidential candidate to save us.
I can't stop crying, Del and Phyllis are such tremendously inspiring figures and beautiful human beings.
Thank you Del, I could never fully express how grateful I am to you and Phyllis.
It feels like we lost one of our own Mothers of the Movement. Our hearts are with Phyllis, her surviving life-partner and wife!
here's a great personal tribute to Del:
http://www.pushback.org/2008/0.....vist-dies/