If you want to know who Del Martin (right) was and why her death is such a sad loss for the lesbian and gay communities, I could give you a few dry highlights:

I could say that she—along with her partner of well over 50 years, Phyllis Lyon (left)—was a lesbian organizer and activist, among the first. I could talk of her tireless work for equal rights: gay rights, women’s rights, the rights of the elderly and the underprivileged, of those without access to health care. I could remind you of how Del and Phyllis were the first to be married in California, both in 2004, when San Francisco temporarily married gay couples, and then again earlier this year, when gay marriage was more formally legalized throughout the state.

If you wanted to know just a little more, you could look at any one of a number of newspaper and online articles. You could link to her hometown newspaper of record, The San Francisco Chronicle. You could see what gay rights organizations like Equality California or The National Lesbian and Gay Task Force had to say. Heck, go ultra-modern and look at Del’s page on Wikipedia.

But if you really want to understand who Del Martin was, really want to discover the depth of her impact and the beauty and strength of her spirit, you can find a few suggestions below the fold:

Read Lesbian/Woman, Del and Phyllis’s 1972 book about the realities of lesbian relationships.

Find and watch the brilliant documentary film No Secret Anymore, directed by longtime lesbian photographer Joan E. Biren (JEB). I blogged about it when it was shown at AFI Silver Theatre, and seeing the film, especially in a theatre with an appreciative and knowledgeable audience, was a real thrill. The whole 20th century lesbian and gay rights movement is focused through the prism of Del and Phyllis’s relationship.

Find and read Del’s book Battered Wives, her exposé of the epidemic of domestic violence.

Go learn about the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national lesbian organization, that Del and Phyllis were such key members of. Marcia Gallo’s book Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Birth of the Lesbian Rights Movement is the best place to start.

Discover the broader history of the push for gay equality, Del and Phyllis’s role in it, and the roles of so many other activists. Try Eric Marcus’s Making Gay History, John D’Emilio’s Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities, or Vern Bullough’s Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context.

What you’ll find is that Del Martin never accepted the idea that where we were was where we had to be. That spirit lives on, her work remains to be continued, and it is up to all of us to continue it.