Congratulations to Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, 83 and 87 respectively, for being the first gay couple to get married today in California.  They have been together for over 50 years.  I can’t imagine how they must feel right now, the two of them having witnessed the progression of their lives together along with the conjoining advancement of the lesbian and gay rights movement.  They co-founded The Daugters of Bilitis in 1955.  My late friend, the author and pioneer, Brenda Weathers, was a member.  I don’t know if she knew Lyon or Martin, but I do know that if Brenda were alive today, we would be on the phone right now talking about this historic day.  I would love to have all my men friends who have died of AIDS here with me tonight, too.  I want to see their faces and hear what they have to say about today.  What a gap they have left in the natural progression of things, the natural progression of talking about days like today.

The women who founded The Daughters of Bilitis named the organization after a book of poems published in the late 19th century.  The author, Pierre Louys, included poems about love between women.  I have not read the book, “Songs of Bilitis,” but I have just ordered it from Amazon, there are copies to be had, I’m surprised.  (The link to Amazon is on the right side of this page.) 

With all the strife, friction and hate in the world, it’s quite something, oh hell, I might as well say it, “it’s fabulous” (that’s for you, Tom Young) to celebrate the affirmation of love with the ritual of marriage, which has been with us nearly as long as humankind, in one form or another, until death do us part.   

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 8:56 pm and is filed under David's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.