The Stonewall Riots and visits by Allen Ginsberg and other leaders sparked LGBTQ+ activism in Bloomington-Normal through the 1970s that s still felt today.
Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin bought the cottage in 1955
It soon became a meeting place and refuge for local lesbians
The couple founded the Daughters of Bilitis, a political and social organization for lesbians, and wrote books and magazines about lesbian rights
They became the first to get married in 2004, when then-mayor Gavin Newsom wanted to challenge the state s ban on same-sex marriages
They were married again four years later, when the Supreme Court struck down the state s ban
Lyon died in April 2020, and the house was left to Martin s daughter
She sold it for $2.25 million, but local activists wanted to save it