Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, the founders of the lesbian organization Daughter of Bilitis, have decided to get married, according to reports Monday.
Lyon, 84, and Martin, 87, plan to become one of the first same-sex couples to legally exchange marriage vows in San Francisco, California and among the first marriages in the state.
Same-sex couples can officially get married on Monday afternoon.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to officiate the marriage at the private ceremony in his City Hall office before 50 invited guests. He selected Martin and Lyon for the front of the line in recognition of their long relationship and their status as pioneers of the gay rights movement.
Along with six other women, Martin and Lyon founded a San Francisco social club for lesbians in 1955 called the Daughters of Bilitis. It became the nation's first lesbian advocacy organization.
They decided on the name "daughters" to evoke an American theme, similar to the Daughters of the American Revolution, and chose "Bilitis" because it is a fictional lesbian character named in French poet Pierre Louÿs' 1894 work The Songs of Bilitis.
The couple was originally supposed to get married in 2004 when Newsom defied state law and began issuing same-sex couple marriage licenses. Martin and Lyon were celebrating their 51st anniversary and due to their work with the Daughters of Bilitis, they had become icons in the gay community.
They got married in the court house secretly, but their ceremony was unlawful and did not count.
For more People News, please go to http://news.yourfindit.com/NewsList.aspx?cat=14&wcat=16
Join the brand-new social networking community site, YourFindit, and create your profile
