Del Martin Made It That Far
Thursday, August 28th, 2008
Del Martin, left, married Phyllis Lyon in 2008, after 55 years together.
Some stories you cover, and others you live.
At my house, we often talk about whether and when to get married, and how. That’s because I’m a woman, and so’s my partner. We were married by our Episcopal priest eight years ago. Under the law, we’re single. We’re in our final months of waiting to see whether New York lawmakers will grant us the right to marry. Already, the state recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. We want to marry here, at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
Del Martin lived this story, too. She had married Phyllis Lyon back in 2004, the first couple in San Francisco’s protest of California state law. In the ongoing legal fight, the court threw that marriage out. But on June 16, Martin and Lyon married again, this time with the state’s full force and blessing. And thus comes this news:
Martin died at a San Francisco hospital Wednesday morning with her wife by her side.
She was 87 years old.
Californians will vote in November on a measure to ban gay marriages again. Whatever happens, Martin made it all the way to hers.