Tag Archives: Daughters of Bilitis

ILD: The Incredible Story of Del and Phyllis

In 2008, after 55 years together, Del Martin, age 87, and Phyllis Lyon, age 84, were finally wed in San Francisco, but it was for the second time. Four years earlier, before same-sex marriage was legalized in the state of California, during a large ceremony honoring their long-standing contributions to LGBTQ activism, they were the first of 90 gay couples to be married illegally by the city’s then-mayor Gavin Newsom.

When Martin and Phyllis made their initial vows as San Francisco’s first same-sex couple, the ceremony was conducted so that their union could potentially be included in a lawsuit to champion marriage equality in the United States. The director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kate Kendell, invited them with this promise: “This will hopefully be the last thing the movement will ever ask you to do, but do you wanna get married?”

As lesbian history was unfolding in the 1950s, it was Del and Phyllis who gathered in the home of their friend Rose Bamberger and her partner Rosemary Sliepen and founded the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the country. Martin and Lyon would soon become co-editors of the Ladder, DOB’s publication, and grow the readership even amid an era of pervasive homophobia. The pair was also the first lesbian couple to join the National Organization for Women, as feminist causes also spurred their organizing work.

Over the next five decades, Martin and Lyon never stopped organizing, and gradually, thanks in no small part to their efforts, LGBTQ visibility shifted from secrecy to “out and proud” activism.

Continue reading: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/incredible-story-lesbian-activists-del-martin-and-phyllis-lyon-180978309/ (source)

International Lesbian Day: Martha Shelley, the Lesbian who Proposed the Protest March of Stonewall

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Martha Shelley, was the one who proposed the protest march of Stonewall, although everyone remembers Harvey Milk. Well, this lesbian activist not only promoted the protest that night in the Greenwich Village, but has been and is a very struggling feminist.

Who is Martha Shelley?

If you still don’t know our heroine, you should know that Shelley was born in 1943, in Brooklyn. From a young age she participated in movements protesting human rights, so much so that she was watched by the FBI. In fact, her real name is Martha Altman, but she had to choose Shelley’s alias to go unnoticed.

Her participation as a social activist begins with the first protest against the Vietnam War. Subsequently, she joined the association DOB (Daughters of Bilitis), the Daughters of Bilitis. This association was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization, of which Shelley was president.

The women who belonged to the DOB were constantly monitored by the authorities, hence Martha Altman, to be called Martha Shelley. The continuous raids, harassment, and police harassment was a constant while the organization lasted. Founded in San Francisco in 1955, it lasted 14 more years against wind and tide.

But let’s go back to Martha Shelley and her work as an activist for LGTBI rights. This female fighter also joined the Student Homophile League, the first gay student organization, founded in 1966 at Columbia University.

Subsequently, she was one of the four people who founded the [New York] Gay Liberation Front. The first of the GLF was that of New York, which was founded just after Stonewall in 1969. There are different locations in the US, United Kingdom and Canada, but Shelley participated in the foundation of the first organization.

(Translated)

Martha Shelley, fue quien propuso la marcha protesta de Stonewall, aunque todo el mundo recuerda a Harvey Milk. Pues bien, esta activista lesbiana no solo promovió la protesta aquella noche en el Greenwich Village, sino que ha sido y es una feminista muy luchadora.

¿Quién es Martha Shelley?

Si todavía no conoces a nuestra heroína, debes saber que Shelley nació en 1943, en Brooklyn. Desde muy joven participó en movimientos protesta por los derechos humanos, tanto, que estuvo vigilada por el FBI. De hecho, su nombre real es Martha Altman, pero tuvo que escoger el alias de Shelley para pasar desapercibida.

Su participación como activista social, comienza con la primera protesta contra la guerra de Vietnam. Posteriormente, entró a formar parte de la asociación DOB (Daughters of Bilitis), las Hijas de Bilitis. Esta asociación, fue la primera organización lésbica de derechos civiles y políticos, de la cual Shelley fue presidenta.

Las mujeres que pertenecían a la DOB eran vigiladas constantemente por las autoridades, de ahí que Martha Altman, pasara a llamarse Martha Shelley. Las continuas redadas, el hostigamiento, y el acoso policial fue una constante mientras duró la organización. Fundada en San Francisco en 1955, duró 14 años más contra viento y marea.

Pero volvamos a Martha Shelley y su labor como activista por los derechos LGTBI. Esta mujer luchadora se unió también al Student Homophile League, primera organización de estudiantes gais, fundada en 1966 en la Universidad de Columbia.

Posteriormente, fue una de las cuatro personas que fundaron el Frente de Liberación Gay de [New York]. El primero de los GLF fue el de Nueva York, que se fundó justo después de Stonewall en 1969. Hay distintas sedes en EEUU, Reino Unido y Canadá, pero Shelley participó en la fundación de la primera organización.

(Original)

Continue reading: https://www.lesbiana.es/2019/07/06/no-fue-harvey-milk-fue-martha-shelley/ (source)

Honoring Del Martin, Lesbian Rights Pioneer

Sometimes you just want to fox-trot or cha-cha. Since it was often illegal for same-sex couples to dance together in public places in the 1950s, Del Martin and her partner, Phyllis Lyon, founded the Daughters of Bilitis, one of the first lesbian organizations in the United States, in 1955. But the DOB was much more than just a place to dance freely: In those dark days, it was a beacon of light, a refuge, and a bit of a miracle.

Continue reading at: Honoring Del Martin, Lesbian Rights Pioneer – Vogue (Source)