American author and lesbian-feminist activist, she and her life partner Del Martin founded Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, the first activist group in the US fighting for rights for lesbians. She and Martin had met in 1950 while Lyon was working as a reporter. The women moved in together in 1953 and through Daughters of Bilitis and other organizations, they continued to fight for lesbian rights. They were key members of NOW (National Organization for Women) as well as the Council of Religion and Homosexuals. Lyon and Martin worked to combat the homophobia they perceived in NOW, and encouraged the National Board of Directors of NOW’s 1971 resolution that lesbian issues were feminist issues.
They were married on 12 February 2004 in the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco after Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city clerk to begin providing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but that marriage was voided by the California Supreme Court on 12 August 2004. They married again on 16 June 2008, in the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco after the California Supreme Court’s decision in In re Marriage Cases legalized same-sex marriage in California. Two months later on 27 August 2008, Martin died from complications of an arm bone fracture in San Francisco at age 87.
During the 1940s, Lyon worked as a reporter for the Chico Enterprise-Record, and during the 1950s, she worked as part of the editorial staff of two Seattle magazines. She died in San Francisco on 9 April 2020 at the age of 95.
Link to Wikipedia biography