The Ladder will be preserved for generations to come. May 07 2021 3:33 PM EDT
The cottage in San Francisco where lesbian pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon made their home and a haven for LGBTQ+ people beginning in 1955 has now been assigned landmark status. A request for the minimum of a plaque on the sidewalk will be submitted within six months, according to the
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to designate the hilltop home at 651 Duncan St. landmark status. The one-bedroom house was the place where Lyon and Martin founded the political group the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955.
The group started as a social support organization but quickly transformed into activism and politics.
“The Daughters of Bilitis didn’t have an office space, so 651 was really ground zero for the lesbian rights movement at the time. It was a place where people could be safe and reveal their sexuality, said Terry Beswick, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society.
Lyon was a journalist who met her lifelong love, Martin, while working at a magazine in Seattle. The couple moved to San Francisco in 1953. Besides the political organization, they published a national monthly for lesbians and a book called Lesbian/Woman in 1972.
Home of San Francisco s first same-sex spouses now a landmark
6 May, 2021 04:48 AM
3 minutes to read
In this 2008, file photo, Phyllis Lyon, left, and Del Martin are photographed at home in San Francisco. Photo / AP
In this 2008, file photo, Phyllis Lyon, left, and Del Martin are photographed at home in San Francisco. Photo / AP
AP
The hilltop cottage belonging to a lesbian couple who were the first same-sex partners to legally marry in San Francisco has become a city landmark.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to give the 651 Duncan St home of the late lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin landmark status. The home in the Noe Valley neighbourhood is expected to become the first lesbian landmark in the US West, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The group started as a social support organization but quickly transformed into activism and politics.
“The Daughters of Bilitis didn’t have an office space, so 651 was really ground zero for the lesbian rights movement at the time. It was a place where people could be safe and reveal their sexuality, said Terry Beswick, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society.
Lyon was a journalist who met her lifelong love, Martin, while working at a magazine in Seattle. The couple moved to San Francisco in 1953. Besides the political organization, they published a national monthly for lesbians and a book called Lesbian/Woman in 1972.