Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin (May 5, 1921 – August 27, 2008)[1] and Phyllis Ann Lyon (November 10, 1924 – April 9, 2020)[2][3] were an American lesbian couple based in San Francisco who were known as feminist and gay-rights activists.

[1] Martin and Lyon met in 1950, became lovers in 1952, and moved in together on Valentine's Day 1953 in an apartment on Castro Street in San Francisco.

This group influenced then-mayor Dianne Feinstein to sponsor a citywide bill to outlaw employment discrimination for gays and lesbians.

[5] Two months later on August 27, 2008, Martin died in San Francisco from complications of an arm bone fracture.

She was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and at San Francisco State College, where she studied journalism.

Martin died on August 27, 2008, at UCSF Hospice in San Francisco, from complications of an arm bone fracture.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom ordered that the flags at City Hall be flown at half-staff in her honor.

The organization works to increase communication among women and connect the public with forms of women-based media.

Del would leave her shoes in the middle of the room, and I'd throw them out the window", said Lyon, to which Martin responded, "You'd have an argument with me and try to storm out the door.

At our age, we do not have the luxury of time.However, they were married again on June 16, 2008, after the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was legal.

[8][9] Within five years of its origin, the Daughters of Bilitis had chapters around the country, including Chicago, New York, New Orleans, San Diego, Los Angeles, Detroit, Denver, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

There were 500 subscribers to The Ladder but far more readers, as copies were circulated among women who were reluctant to put their names to a subscription list.

The Daughters of Bilitis, which had taken a conservative approach to helping lesbians deal with society, disbanded in 1970 due to the rise of more radical activism.

[19][20] Martin joined forces with other minority SFCOSW Commissioners, such as Kathleen Hardiman Arnold (now Kathleen Rand Reed), and Ella Hill Hutch, the first Black woman to be elected to the Board of Supervisors, to focus on the nexus of gay women's rights and racial and ethnic discrimination.

Named after Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, the clinic soon became a model for culturally-sensitive community-based health care.

Since 1993, Lyon-Martin also has provided case management and primary healthcare in programs specifically designed for very low-income and uninsured women with HIV, as well as services for transgender people.

In 1995 they were named delegates to the White House Conference on Aging, Martin by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Lyon by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, both from California.

The extensive records of Lyon and Martin's professional and activist pursuits, including the administrative files of the Daughters of Bilitis, are preserved at the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.