Love is…

gay_marriage_lg.jpg

Phyllis Lyon (left) and Del Martin, lesbian activists who have been together for 51 years, embrace after their marriage ceremony at San Francisco City Hall.

That picture is from 2004, when Lyon and Martin were illegally married by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. Today at 5:01pm, they will be the first same-sex couple to be legally married in the state of California.

Congratulations to them, and to all the other couples today and hereafter who will be afforded the basic right to marry the person they love, regardless of gender.

Author: has written 5095 posts for this blog.

Jill has been blogging for Feministe since 2005.
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27 Responses

  1. Renee
    Renee June 16, 2008 at 4:17 pm |

    How truly beautiful this picture is thank you for posting it. I am so happy to hear that these women will be the first ones to get married. Their love is a testimony to all those who would claim that gay people are not capable of true love.

  2. Miss Nomered
    Miss Nomered June 16, 2008 at 4:27 pm |

    That was totally my warm fuzzy moment for the day. <3

  3. DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!!!
    DEAF FEMINIST PUNK!!! June 16, 2008 at 5:04 pm |

    It’s great to see that love can exist for a long time, and this one just proves it.

  4. L-K
    L-K June 16, 2008 at 5:31 pm |

    Holy sh*t, 51 years? That totally made me teary eyed.

  5. L-K
    L-K June 16, 2008 at 5:35 pm |

    Correction (since I misread the details) – 55 years as of 2008! That’s just amazing!

  6. SoE
    SoE June 16, 2008 at 5:39 pm |

    Oh well, old couples in love are always so unbelievably cute.

  7. Lissette
    Lissette June 16, 2008 at 5:49 pm |

    This is so beautiful! Congratulations to them, and thanks for restoring my faith in love and the government-even if it was just a little bit- for finally seeing this as love and not something that’s wrong.

  8. Civil Rights are Civil Rights « Donkey Punch

    [...] Jill @ Feministe (this picture is when they were illegally wed by Gavin Newsom in [...]

  9. denelian
    denelian June 16, 2008 at 7:02 pm |

    *sniff*

    i want to be that happy!!! go them!!!!!!!!!!

  10. t4toby
    t4toby June 16, 2008 at 7:10 pm |

    I’m with SoE.

    Super cute.

  11. Mazel Tov! « Matzo Ball Coup
    Mazel Tov! « Matzo Ball Coup June 16, 2008 at 7:26 pm |

    [...] 16, 2008 by Marissa M. Via Feministe, Feminist and LGBT activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon have been in love for over 50 years. While [...]

  12. Charity
    Charity June 16, 2008 at 7:31 pm |

    A beautiful picture, and congratulations to these women and the many other couples who have been waiting so long for this.

  13. Daisy
    Daisy June 16, 2008 at 7:42 pm |

    They are amazing women, that photo chokes me up.

  14. Lottie
    Lottie June 16, 2008 at 10:11 pm |

    I’m all choked up here… This is awesome! Thanks for posting it.

  15. PhysioProf
    PhysioProf June 16, 2008 at 10:16 pm |

    Wouldn’t it be nice if insane right-wing theocratic douchecornets would just leave normal people the fuck alone? I heard one of these fucking assholes spouting off on the radio this morning about the “complementarity of one man and one woman” and a bunch of other dumb-fuck bronze age mythological bullshit. JUST LEAVE US ALONE, YOU SICK SAD DELUSIONAL FUCKING WACKOS!

  16. Bushfire
    Bushfire June 16, 2008 at 11:11 pm |

    Beautiful!

  17. Mnemosyne
    Mnemosyne June 16, 2008 at 11:22 pm |

    Here they are at today’s ceremony, still cute as a couple of buttons.

  18. Why this queer isn’t celebrating at AngryBrownButch

    [...] And today, when I heard about the first couples in line to enjoy their new rights, couples like Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin who got married again after their 2004 marriage was declared invalid, my heart was kinda warmed. [...]

  19. Feministe » Why this queer isn’t celebrating

    [...] « Love is… Jun 16 2008 [...]

  20. Solitary
    Solitary June 17, 2008 at 1:51 am |

    I think one of the cutest things in the world is old people who are still in love after decades together.

  21. Gay Marriage: Boon Or Scourge? « PhysioProf

    [...] 17, 2008 There are two posts up at Feministe containing some very interesting discussion of the gay marriages that are now [...]

  22. ThickRedGlasses
    ThickRedGlasses June 17, 2008 at 2:56 pm |

    That picture is just so fucking adorable, I can hardly stand it. I’m so happy for them and the other couples who were finally allowed to get married. My grandparents were married for 55 years, and it just hurts me that they were allowed to be married for that long but Phyllis and Del weren’t.

  23. Sarah J
    Sarah J June 17, 2008 at 10:09 pm |

    That made me cry.

  24. Is Sulu cool, or what? « Mikeb302000

    [...] a blog I just love, Feministe, ran the heartwarming story of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, lesbian activists who have been together practically their whole lives. Although the article [...]

  25. season of the bitch » Rules, choices, and marriage equality.

    [...] Bright has some lovely thoughts here on California’s gay marriages. Bitch, Ph.D. and Feministe also weigh in, with pictures. And Jack at Feministe notes that even with marriage equality, certain [...]

  26. Alex Lover
    Alex Lover June 21, 2008 at 8:21 pm |

    Congratulations, but I am in shock …

  27. Mercurial Georgia
    Mercurial Georgia July 5, 2008 at 10:40 pm |

    I’m so happy for them. One day, I hope I’ll have something like that too…55 years!

Comments are closed.