"Mom was not an extraordinary person, but she was a person who accomplished extraordinary things, and this is an important thing because each of us is needed to continue her work. It would be a shame if you left here today thinking that Mom was somehow bigger and bolder than you could ever be."
-- Kendra Mon, daughter of Del Martin, the lesbian pioneer, eulogizing her mother at a memorial service in San Francisco City Hall yesterday, quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle. At age 87, Martin died Aug. 27, just a few months after legally marrying her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon.
The elderly brides, who were longtime lesbian activists, had been among the plaintiffs in the California Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage. This November, California voters will consider Proposition 8, which would eliminate the marital rights of same-sex couples by amending the state's Constitution to discriminate against them. That proposition is currently losing in the polls.
Photos of the Del Martin memorial are here.
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