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50-595: The Lesbian Mothers Union (LMU), later known as Lesbian Mothers and Friends, was created by Del Martin and Pat Norman , along with other activists, in an effort to combat the legal persecution and separation from society that lesbian mothers face. Lesbian mothers were in desperate need of support, and the Lesbian Mothers Union offered assistance to those residing in the San Francisco Bay area. The Lesbian Mothers Union can trace its origins to

100-538: A $ 30 million expansion project in 2011. The project has added an additional wing to the law school's current building, increasing assignable space by nearly 30 percent to provide for additional classrooms, offices, and a new courtroom, named the Paul and Lydia Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom in honor of a $ 1 million gift to the project from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation. The courtroom

150-683: A 2001-2007 6 year average, 79.4% of UC Davis Law graduates passed the California State Bar exam. In 2009, 89% of first-time test takers passed the California bar. For July 2012, 78.9% of first-time test takers passed the California bar exam. For July 2013, 85.0% of first-time test takers passed the California Bar Exam. For July 2014, 86% of first-time test takers passed the California bar exam. According to King Hall's official 2019 ABA-required disclosures, 85% of

200-596: A citywide bill to outlaw employment discrimination for gays and lesbians. Both women remained politically active, later serving in the White House Conference on Aging in 1995. They were married on February 12, 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. That marriage

250-574: A permanent building in fall 1968. The first class of 69 students graduated in June 1969. In 2016, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Davis 30th among all law schools in the United States. For diversity among the five law schools in the UC system, UC Davis was named the second-most diverse after UC Hastings by U.S. News & World Report . Princeton Review placed UC Davis Law tenth in

300-403: A popular lesbian bar where objects would be auctioned off. All funds would go directly to lesbian mothers and their custody battles. It is estimated that there were 130 members in San Francisco. In May 1975, The Lesbian Mothers Union was changed to Lesbian Mothers and Friends. This gave space for people who were allies to join political and social conversations surrounding lesbian mothers. After

350-627: A subscription list. For their pioneering work on The Ladder , Martin and Lyon were among the first inductees into the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame, which was established in 2005 by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association . Lyon and Martin remained involved in the DOB until the late 1960s. The Daughters of Bilitis, which had taken a conservative approach to helping lesbians deal with society, disbanded in 1970 due to

400-689: Is fully processed and is available for use by researchers. The Online Archive of California (a project of the California Digital Library ) offers the complete finding aid. UC Davis School of Law UC Davis School of Law is the smallest of the five law schools in the University of California system, with a total enrollment of around 600 students. The school is located in a building named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , and commonly referred to as King Hall. During

450-531: Is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history . The wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots . In June 2020, Lyon was added to the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor . Rosie O'Donnell plays Martin and Maddie Corman plays Lyon in the miniseries about LGBT rights called When We Rise . Season 3, episode 7 of

500-857: The Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club , named after San Francisco-born author Alice B. Toklas . Lyon-Martin Health Services was founded in 1979 by a group of medical providers and health activists as a clinic for lesbians who lacked access to non-judgmental and affordable health care. Named after Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, the clinic soon became a model for culturally-sensitive community-based health care. Since 1993, Lyon-Martin also has provided case management and primary healthcare in programs specifically designed for very low-income and uninsured women with HIV , as well as services for transgender people. In 1989, Martin and Lyon joined Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. In 1995 they were named delegates to

550-658: The American Society of International Law and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights . It was founded in 2009. CILC's co-directors are Associate Dean Beth Greenwood and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law Afra Afsharipour. The acronym "CILC" is pronounced as "silk." CILC sponsors the Asylum and Refugee Law National Moot Court Competition. CILC has partnered with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights for special project focused on

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600-566: The Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH) at Glide Memorial Methodist Church in northern California to persuade ministers to accept homosexuals into churches. The couple used their influence to decriminalize homosexuality in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They became politically active in San Francisco's first gay political organization, the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club . This group influenced then-mayor Dianne Feinstein to sponsor

650-589: The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in San Francisco in 1955. This became the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States and soon had a national reach. They both acted as president and until 1963 successively as editor of The Ladder magazine, which they also founded. They were involved in the DOB until they joined the National Organization for Women (NOW), the first known lesbian couple to do so. Both women worked to form

700-533: The Gay Women's West Coast Conference in June 1971, in Los Angeles . The conference planners neglected to provide child care options to attendees, and had previously ignored a request for events specifically for Lesbian mothers. The initial membership included thirty-six women, out of the conference attendance of two hundred, with Del Martin as a contact for the organization. Eventually the Lesbian Mothers Union

750-528: The Lesbian Mothers' National Defense Fund also began fundraising in Seattle to support custody battles involving Lesbians. Other events included a 1972 Christmas party, planned by gay motorcycle clubs of San Francisco; Toys for Tots drives in 1973 and 1975, sporadic potluck dinners for members, and a 1977 "day in the park" for mothers and children. All these events served to encourage community. At

800-478: The White House Conference on Aging , Martin by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Lyon by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi , both from California. Books are written by both Martin and Lyon except where noted: In 2003 filmmaker JEB ( Joan E. Biren ) released a documentary film on the couple, No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon , available from Frameline . The 1993 documentary Last Call at Maud's also featured Martin and Lyon. In 2014, Martin

850-589: The homophobia they perceived in NOW, and encouraged the National Board of Directors of NOW's 1971 resolution that lesbian issues were feminist issues. In 1977 "Del" Martin was the first openly gay woman to be appointed to the SFCOSW by then Mayor George R. Moscone . Martin joined forces with other minority SFCOSW Commissioners, such as Kathleen Hardiman Arnold (now Kathleen Rand Reed), and Ella Hill Hutch ,

900-613: The podcast Making Gay History is about Martin and Lyon. Shannon Purser plays Martin and Heather Matarazzo plays Lyon in the HBO Max series Equal , formally announced on August 24, 2020. The extensive records of Lyon and Martin's professional and activist pursuits, including the administrative files of the Daughters of Bilitis, are preserved at the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. The collection

950-959: The 1970s, there is little evidence that the group remained active. However, they were an inspiration for many other similar groups that spread throughout other cities in the United States. Many of these other groups are still active and are working towards supporting and fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon Dorothy Louise Taliaferro " Del " Martin (May 5, 1921 – August 27, 2008) and Phyllis Ann Lyon (November 10, 1924 – April 9, 2020) were an American lesbian couple based in San Francisco who were known as feminist and gay-rights activists . Martin and Lyon met in 1950, became lovers in 1952, and moved in together on Valentine's Day 1953 in an apartment on Castro Street in San Francisco . They had been together for three years when they cofounded

1000-537: The 1990s. To further protect UC Berkeley School of Law, the university appointed a committee in 1960 to prepare recommendations for the establishment of additional law schools in the UC system. The committee recommended that law schools should be established at Davis, San Diego , and Santa Barbara , but Davis was identified as the highest priority because of its proximity to the California State Capitol at Sacramento . Formal planning for

1050-451: The Class of 2019 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. King Hall's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 6.5%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2019 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation. The total cost of attendance (indicating

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1100-506: The Daughters of Bilitis in 1956. It was in this same area, the San Francisco Bay, that the Lesbian Mothers Union was created, just a mere 15 years later. Pat Norman was born on October 21, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York . Throughout her life, she has advocated for women's rights, as well as spending much of her life dedicated to the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. In 1971, she founded the Lesbian Mothers Union, along with other activists. Between

1150-586: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled gay marriage legal, the 90-year-old Lyon "laughed and laughed when told the news. 'Well how about that?' she said. 'For goodness' sakes.'" She died on April 9, 2020, at the age of 95. Martin and Lyon met in Seattle in 1950 when they began working for the same magazine. They became lovers in 1952 and entered into a partnership in 1953 when they moved to San Francisco together. Many years later, Lyon and Martin recalled how they learned to live together in 1953. "We really only had problems our first year together. Del would leave her shoes in

1200-532: The UC law schools. It has a slightly higher student/faculty ratio than UCLA or Berkeley . UC Davis has been ranked as the fifth most-expensive public law school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report . It is also ranked first for providing the most financial aid. UC Davis grants the second-most in financial aid in the country. UC Davis Law's King Hall Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), founded in 1990 to help alumni working in relatively low-income public-service law careers to repay student loans,

1250-584: The cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at King Hall for the 2024-2025 academic year is $ 83,011 for California residents and $ 95,256 for non-residents. The California International Law Center is a research center at the Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall) that focuses on international, comparative, and transnational law. It works to promote scholarship, curricular and career development, and partnerships with organizations such as

1300-601: The crisis in Darfur . RFK's 2007 Human Rights Laureate Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah , academic faculty from throughout California, and CILC's fellow, students, and alumni will participate in creating a report of past reconciliation efforts. CILC's Global Council consists of leaders in international legal and policy advocacy. Current members of the council include Prof. Clayborne Carson , Prof. Mireille Delmas-Marty , Prof. William A. Schabas , former ambassador Derek Shearer , and Judge Patricia M. Wald . The law school completed

1350-524: The first Black woman to be elected to the Board of Supervisors, to focus on the nexus of gay women's rights and racial and ethnic discrimination. In their later work with a health clinic, Martin and Lyon focused, for instance, on the specific health and issues affecting Black and Latina gay women. Martin was ahead of her time in understanding the cultural aspects of gay health. Lyon and Martin were both active in San Francisco's first gay political organization,

1400-531: The founders for the Lesbian Mothers Union, and her contact information was tied to the organization within its first year. She also founded various other similar organizations, such as the National Organization for Women, Council on Religion and the Homosexual, and the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, America's first openly gay political organization. Together, the two women co-founded the organization

1450-528: The fundamental level, the Lesbian Mothers Union made lesbian mothers visible, which is a political act in itself. The organization grew from meeting every so often to regular meetings which were held along with fund-raising events. Through their fundraisers and events they received many supporters and friends which was vital to their organization. One of their main fundraisers was called the Lesbian Mothers Day Auction. People would gather in

1500-732: The idea and created similar groups to support the lesbian mothers of their areas. The Lesbian Mothers Union also circulated their newsletter in Boston, Chicago, and New York. Groups like the LMU “raised funds for legal fees, put lesbians fighting for custody in touch with sympathetic expert witnesses, and in rare cases, helped lesbian mothers and their children go underground when it was clear that they were going to be separated.” Members Del Martin and Pat Norman conducted outreach like speaking at UC Davis School of Law on issues facing lesbian mothers. The groups also aimed to hold discussions to address concerns of

1550-457: The late 1940s, the rapid expansion of the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) partially relieved some of the political pressure on UC Berkeley School of Law to compromise on its rigid standards for student admissions and faculty hiring. Berkeley was able to hold the line on its standards and thereby ascended to the top tier of American law schools by

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1600-424: The law school at Davis began in 1962. The Berkeley Law faculty actively supported and worked on the development of the new law school at Davis because they knew it would relieve the pressure on themselves to ease up on admissions standards. It helped that one of their own, Edward L. Barrett, Jr., was appointed as Davis's first dean in 1964. UC Davis School of Law opened in a temporary space in 1966 and moved to

1650-532: The lesbian mothers in their area, as well as deeper topics, such as the societal push for heterosexuality. They helped to link other lesbian mothers together by organizing events that all members could participate in. By 1973 the LMU had created a legal defense fund to support members financially as they fought custody battles. Scott's Pit , a popular gay bar in San Francisco, was the site of two benefit auctions/raffles in 1973 and 1974, that included guest auctioneers like José Sarria and J.J. Van Dyke . At this time,

1700-545: The middle of the room, and I'd throw them out the window", said Lyon, to which Martin responded, "You'd have an argument with me and try to storm out the door. I had to teach you to fight back." On February 12, 2004, Martin and Lyon were issued a marriage license by the City and County of San Francisco after mayor Gavin Newsom ordered that marriage licenses be given to same-sex couples who requested them. The license, along with those of several thousand other same-sex couples,

1750-510: The nation for faculty diversity in the 2009 version of its annual law ranking. It is listed as an "A−" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students . It is listed as an "A" (#16) in the January 2011 "Best Public Interest Law Schools" ratings by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students . UC Davis Law has the smallest student body of

1800-499: The newsletter from 1960 to 1962. She was succeeded by other editors until the newsletter ended its connection with the Daughters of Bilitis in 1970. Within five years of its origin, the Daughters of Bilitis had chapters around the country, including Chicago, New York, New Orleans, San Diego, Los Angeles, Detroit, Denver, Cleveland and Philadelphia. There were 500 subscribers to The Ladder but far more readers, as copies were circulated among women who were reluctant to put their names to

1850-425: The organization also worked to change the perception of Lesbians. Del Martin, a lesbian rights activist, passed away in 2008 after five decades of her efforts to promote gay rights. Martin was married to Phyllis Lyon , and the two were partners for 55 years. Working together, Martin and Lyon spent their lives working for these rights for themselves, as well as other lesbians and gays. Del Martin became known as one of

1900-419: The organization sought to provide financial and legal aid to Lesbian mothers as, at the time of the group's formation, no "admitted Lesbians" had won a child custody case in California. The organization would find witnesses and research to demonstrate that Lesbian mothers provided good homes for their children. Because custody battles were inextricably linked to morality, and Lesbianism was perceived to be deviant,

1950-478: The rise of more radical activism. Martin and Lyon were active in the National Organization for Women (NOW) since 1967. Del Martin was the first open lesbian elected to the board of directors of NOW. In 1970, she signaled in an essay the split of lesbian feminists from the male-dominated gay rights movement, characterizing the leaders of that movement as "hollow men of self-proclaimed privilege. They neither speak for us nor to us." Lyon and Martin worked to combat

2000-502: The years of 1972 and 1979, she focused her time on policies about mental health services for sexual minority groups. She also spent her time training employees on how to best help the LGBTQ+ communities, using sensitivity and awareness of the proper resources. Pat spent a great deal of the 1970s working for the San Francisco Health Department , in which she was the only openly gay employee. Her time spent there

2050-548: Was 87 years old. Her wife, Phyllis, was at her side. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom ordered that the flags at City Hall be flown at half-staff in her honor. In 1977, Martin became an associate of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication among women and connect the public with forms of women-based media. Martin

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2100-620: Was also one of the founders of the Lesbian Mothers Union . Phyllis Lyon was born on November 10, 1924, in Tulsa, Oklahoma . She held a degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley , earned in 1946. During the 1940s, she 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. On June 26, 2015, when

2150-682: Was born as Dorothy Louise Taliaferro on May 5, 1921, in San Francisco. She was the first salutatorian to graduate from George Washington High School . She was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and at San Francisco State College , where she studied journalism. She earned a Doctor of Arts degree from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality . She was married for four years to James Martin and retained his name after their divorce. She had one daughter, Kendra Mon. Martin died on August 27, 2008, at UCSF Hospice in San Francisco, from complications of an arm bone fracture . She

2200-463: Was established in both San Francisco and Oakland, California , totaling more than a hundred members locally by 1973. The group described their unique burden as both mothers and lesbians, facing rejection from within even their own community. They described difficulties securing housing, navigating relationships between romantic partners and their children, and preparing their children to deal with "the cruelties of straight world oppression." Specifically

2250-538: Was focused on the AIDS epidemic. Other active members of the LMU included Phyllis Lyon, Ruth Mahaney , Judie Ghidinelli , and Cathy Cade . In 2017, ABC released a docuseries titled When We Rise about the life of Cleve Jones , another LGBT activist. The series featured LGBTQ+ activists as well, including Pat Norman , who was played by Whoopi Goldberg . After the creation of the Lesbian Mothers Union in San Francisco, other women from different cities were inspired by

2300-404: Was legal. Once again they were the first couple married in San Francisco, in fact the only couple married that day by the mayor. In 1955, Martin and Lyon and six other lesbian women formed the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first national lesbian organization in the United States. Lyon was the first editor of DOB's newsletter, The Ladder , beginning in 1956. Martin took over editorship of

2350-668: Was one of the inaugural honorees in the Rainbow Honor Walk , a walk of fame in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood noting LGBTQ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields." In June 2019, Martin was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted and listed on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in New York City 's Stonewall Inn . The Monument

2400-422: Was the first loan repayment assistance program established at any UC law school. According to Brian Leiter 's Law School rankings, Davis ranks 23rd in the nation for scholarly impact as measured by total academic citations of tenure-stream faculty. On November 28, 2022, UC Davis Law withdrew from U.S. News & World Report rankings and will no longer provide data to contribute to those rankings. Based on

2450-475: Was voided by the California Supreme Court on August 12, 2004. Del is 83 years old and I am 79. After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us. At our age, we do not have the luxury of time. However, they were married again on June 16, 2008, after the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage

2500-593: Was voided by the California Supreme Court on August 12, 2004. After the California Supreme Court 's decision in In re Marriage Cases legalized same-sex marriage in California , the couple married again on June 16, 2008. Theirs was the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco . Two months later on August 27, 2008, Martin died in San Francisco from complications of an arm bone fracture . Lyon died years later on April 9, 2020. Del Martin

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