Phyllis Lyon: Remembering a lesbian rights pioneer

qvoicenews.com:

Phyllis Lyons, left, and Del Martin were the grand marshals of San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

They are founders of the pioneering lesbian organization the Daughters of Bilitis. Photo by Tom Levy / San Francisco Chronicle / Polaris Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin were the first same-sex couple to marry in California in 2004.

They were secretly wed in San Francisco. They were quietly ushered into the city clerk’s office and exchanged vows before a tiny group of city staff members and friends.

Phyllis died Thursday at the age of 95 from natural causes. Del passed away in 2008. Phyllis and Del were a part of my professional and personal life starting in 1994 when I was legal