I am really sad; the pioneers of the lesbian and gay justice movement in the United States from the 1940’s and 1950’s are passing away quickly. Del Martin was one of the greatest of them–with her wife Phyllis Lyon she founded the Daughters of Bilitis organisation in the 1950’s and thus spearheaded the more radical organisations of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This is her New York Times obituary, and while I’m sad that she has left us, and send my condolences to Ms. Lyon, I am happy that she lived to be legally married to Phyllis and in that she was yet again a pioneer.
May she rest in peace and rise in glory.