Phyllis Lyon, Pioneering LGBTQ+ Rights and Feminist Activist, Dead at 95

Phyllis Lyon — the pioneering LGBTQ+ and feminist activist who, with her longtime partner, were the first same-sex couple to be legally wed in California — died of natural causes Thursday morning at her San Francisco home, CNN reports. Her death was confirmed by Kate Kendell, a close friend and former director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Lyon was 95 years old.

Lyon was a journalist in Seattle when she met her lifelong romantic partner, Del Martin; the couple moved to San Francisco in 1953. There, they co-founded the pioneering lesbian civil rights and social organization Daughters of Bilitis alongside other lesbian couples, as an alternative to lesbian bars that would be targeted and raided by police at the time. It became a key site of education and organizing for lesbian feminists, and the group even held public forums to teach people about homosexuality and provided support to single lesbians, as well as lesbian mothers — ultimately becoming a model for future lesbian rights organizations. In 1956, the group began publishing The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian publication. Later in 1972, Lyon and Martin published Lesbian/Woman, considered to be a foundational text of lesbian feminism.

In 2004, Lyon and Martin were recruited to be San Francisco’s first same-sex couple to be legally wed, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom declared it to be legal. In a 2010 interview with The San Francisco Chronicle, the 85-year-old Lyon said that she and Martin never intended to be the symbolic first gay couple to be married.

“We thought marriage was a bad deal for women,” Lyon told The Chronicle. “It meant so much to so many people that we decided it was what we were supposed to do… We only had two days to get ready.”

Later that year, the State Supreme Court overturned thousands of same-sex unions. “Del is 83 years old and I am 79. After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us,” Lyon said in response. “At our age, we do not have the luxury of time.”

When the State Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on gay marriage in 2008, Lyon and Martin were recruited to be the first couple again. Martin died weeks after their second wedding at age 87.

Phyllis Ann Lyon was born on November 10, 1924 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She grew up in Sacramento, California, and graduated in 1946 from UC Berkeley, where she was the editor of the Daily Californian student newspaper.

“Phyllis Lyon was a giant. She was an icon, a trailblazer, a pioneer, a role model, and a friend to the many of us who looked up to her,” wrote National Center of Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon in a statement. “Her activism changed what we thought was possible, and her strength inspired us. Her vision helped forge our path and made organizations like NCLR possible. And although the path is lonelier without her, we know the way because of her.” The San Francisco International Airport also announced that it would be lit in rainbow colors this weekend in memory of Lyon.

Her friends and family are now planning a public memorial.

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