Dorothy (Del) Martin: May 5, 1921 - August 27,2008

Del Martin devoted most of her life to championing on behalf of civil liberties, human dignity, feminism, and equality for all. She was born in San Francisco and she died in San Francisco. She and Phyllis Lyon lived together for over fifty years.
Del challenged misconceptions about gender and sexuality and fought against the criminalization of homosexuality. She helped create the Council on Religion and the Homosexual to lobby city lawmakers and reduce police harassment of gay men and women. She was an early member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and worked to remove homophobia from that women's movement. She and Phyllis were the first same sex couple to join NOW with a 'couple's membership' rate. She led a campaign against the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its classification of psychiatric disorders. In 1973 homosexuality was taken out of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. With the publication of 'Battered Wives' in 1976, Del Martin became a major catalyst for the movement against domestic violence. She became nationally know as an advocate for battered women. She co-founded the Coalition for Justice for Battered Women in 1975, La Casa de las Madres (a shelter for battered women) in 1976, and the California Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 1977. In 1976 Del was appointed Chair of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women. With Phyllis Lyon, Del Martin was given the Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California in 1990. That is the highest honor extended by the ACLU. In 1979 San Francisco health care providers established a clinic to provide area lesbians access to nonjudgmental, affordable health care. The clinic is called the Lyon-Martin Health Services. In 1995 Senator Dianne Feinstein named Del Martin as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. (Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi named Phyllis Lyon.) Together Martin and Lyon reminded thousands of people that homosexuals grow old, too, and must be included in all aging policies. The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality gave Martin and Lyon their Outstanding Public Service Award in 1996.
Del Martin believed that "... nothing is ever accomplished by hiding in a dark corner." That belief guided her life.
In a life filled with astonishingly brave and selfless political acts on behalf of social justice, the last public and political act in Del Martin's long career took place on June 16, 2008.
On June 16, 2008, Del Martin married her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon. With Phyllis holding her hand for support, Del cut the first slice of their wedding cake.
Del and Phyllis were the first couple to wed in San Francisco after the California Supreme Court recognized that marriage for same-sex couples is a fundamental right in a case brought by plaintiffs including Martin and Lyon.
Del Martin is survived by her daughter Kendra Mon, her son-in-law Eugene Lane, her granddaughter Lorraine Mon, her grandson Kevin Mon, her sister-in-law Patricia Lyon, and by her domestic partner of 55 years and legally wed spouse of 73 days Phyllis Lyon.