The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 70

B6 CALIFORNIA LOSANGELESTIMES OBITUARIES el Martin, a pioneer lesbian rights activist who, with her partner of more than 50 years, Phyllis Lyon, became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in San Fran- ciscoin June, died Wednesday. She was 87. Martin died in the hospice unit of UC San Francisco Medical Center, two weeks after a broken arm worsened her existing health problems, said Kate director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. would not have marriage equality in California if it for Del and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday. fought and triumphed in many Through it all, their love and commitment to each other was an inspiration to all who knew Kendell, a longtime friend of told The Times on Wednesday that one were to name those who have made the most difference to various civil rights movements, whether civil rights, rights, rights, we all know whose those names would be.

it comes to the person who moved lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues forward, that figure would be Del Martin. We all stand on her shoulders, and the gains made by the LGBT movement are owed in large part to Del The highly publicized marriage of Martin and Lyon on June 16, the day the California Supreme ruling overturning laws banning gay marriage went into effect, was officiated by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in a private ceremony in his City Hall office. But it the first time the two women, who have been activist icons in the gay community for five decades, made history in San Francisco. Martin and Lyon, whose relationship began in the early 1950s, also were the first couple married in San Francisco on Feb. 12, 2004, after Newsom challenged marriage laws by issuing marriage licenses to same- sex couples.Some 4,000 gay and lesbian couples were married in the city before a court order halted the ceremonies a month later.

Although the state Supreme Court later invalidated the marriages, Martin and Lyon were amongthe plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state that led the court to overturn ban on same-sex marriages. And so on June 16, the 83-year-old Lyon and the 87-year-old Martin were in office, where their wedding ceremony began at 5 p.m., the time when the Supreme Court ruling went into effect. Holding hands during the six-minute ceremony, the two women recited their vows with tears welling in their eyes. Ceremony over, the room erupted in cheers. Moments later, The Times crowd outside the office burst into applause as Lyon slowly pushed Martin in a wheelchair toward a wedding cake.

are two extraordinary people who have lived extraordinary said Newsom. have spent ahalf-century fighting for In 1956, Martin and Lyon joined six other women to found Daughters of first lesbian rights organization. It began as a support and social club for lesbians in San Francisco at a time when police raids on lesbian bars and other gathering places were not unusual. But Martin and Lyon soon felt it should be more than a social club, and by the early there were nearly 200 chapters around the country. was ever accomplished by hiding in a dark Martin, the first president, wrote early on.

not discard the hermitage for the heritage that awaits any red- blooded American woman who dares to claim Martin became the second editor of the monthly magazine, the Ladder. Launched as a newsletter in 1956, it became an influential publication in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement. In 1964, Martin was part of a group that founded the Council on Religion and the Homosexual to lobby city lawmakers to reduce police harassment and modify the sex laws that criminal- ized homosexual behavior. Martin later helped lead a successful campaign to get the American Psychiatric Assn. to take homosexuality off its list of mental disorders.

She also was a founding member of the Lesbian Union and the Bay Area Coalition, among other organizations, and she was an early member of the National Organization for Women. Martin and Lyon co-wrote the book published in 1972, the same year they co-founded the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, the first gay political club in the nation. The author of the 1976 book Martin became a nationally known advocate for battered women. She co-founded the Coalition for Justice for Battered Women in 1975; two years later she co-founded the California Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Martin was born Dorothy L. Taliaferro in San Francisco on May 5, 1921. She studied journalism at UC Berkeley and then transferred to what is now San Francisco State University. At 19, she married James Martin and gave birth to her daughter, Kendra, two years later. The marriage ended in divorce.

Martin met Lyon in Seattle in 1950 when they both worked for the same trade publication. They were having drinks with another woman one night when the conversation turned to the topic of homosexuality. Martin was asked how she knew so much about it. well, Iam she replied. The friendship between Martin and Lyon, who reportedly did not think of herself as a lesbian at the time, turned into a love affair in 1952.

After moving to San Francisco, they moved in together on Day 1953. were completely devoted to each said Kendell, their political and personal and emotional lives were so intertwined, not only did they share a rich political history but they did that classic thing couples do where they could finish each sentences and read each In addition to Lyon, Martin is survived by her daughter, Kendra Mon; and two grandchildren. Apublic memorial and tribute to Martin in San Francisco is pending. dennis.mclellan@ latimes.com Del Martin, 1921 2008 Longtime leader in lesbian rights movement By Dennis McLellan Times Staff Writer Marcio Jose Sanchez Associated Press WAS EVER ACCOMPLISHED BY HIDING IN A DARK Del Martin, left, places a ring on the finger of Phyllis Lyon in June, in the first same-sex wedding ceremony in San Francisco after the state Supreme Court made the unions legal. Mayor Gavin Newsom, center, officiated.

would not have marriage equality in California if it for Del and EP ANCY ELOSI House speaker said I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor and gambling law expert. Cedillo, who was elected to his final Senate term in 2006, received $10,800 for his campaign that year from tribes with casinos. Last year, he received $4,000 in donations from such tribes. The senator said he presented the bill because the state has not acted ag- gressivelyenoughto protect its compacts with tribes.

The Catholic Church, American Legion and other large nonprofit groups, some of which use old-fashioned paper bingo, support bill. It would double the current jackpot limit from $250 to $500 and allow charitiesto link together by cable or other video technology to expand the number of players and the size of prizes. At least of the revenue from linked games would have to be spent on charitable purposes. Father Joseph Shea of St. Rose of Lima parish in Simi Valley said he could imagine jackpots of $10,000 or more if enough churches connected.

But smaller charities say linked bingo is useless to them because they have facilities throughout the state where large numbers of people can gather. They say the tribes want to bar them from taking advantage of technology. away our electronic bingo is like taking away your Play- Station and handing him a piece of paper and a said Heather Frank, executive director of the Society for the Blind. She said the group gets of its annual revenue from a volunteer- operated bingo parlor in a Sacramento suburb. Frank said the money is used to help teach young peopleBraille, pay for an Olympics for the visually impaired and fund a retreat where young blind people can make friends and build confidence.

It is unclear how many charities would be affected by a ban on electronic bingo. State gambling officials say theylacka statewide tally because each city and county regulates bingo separately. State gambling regulators say they havefound nocharity-run bingo machines that concern the tribes in Los Angeles County. Such machines were found in one bingo hall in San Bernardino County and another in Riverside County, said Frank Herbert, a state Department of Justice agent in charge of gambling enforcement for Southern California. The machines are much more widespread in Sacramento County, where regulators count about 450 in six bingo halls.

More than $25million was bet on the machines in the last fiscal year, saidKaren Walsh of the Sacramento County Department. Of that, went to charities, was awarded as prizes, and was paid to machine manufacturers. The colorful stand-alone devices look like slot machines, with reels or poker cards on the screen, and the game uses a computerized random number generator like a slot machine. The tops of the screens bear a small depiction of a bingo card. Alison Harvey, executive director of the California Tribal Business Alliance, said her members, including the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians and Pala Band of Mission Indians, have a fundamental issue at stake in the bingo halls.

Federal law dictates that states cannot tax tribal casino earnings unless the state offers something of value in return. And what California has agreed to give the tribes, in return for ashare of slot machine earnings as high as is the exclusive right to operate slots. state has already said this kind of gaming is reserved to the Harvey said. go back on that at this The full extent of reliance on electronic bingo machines may become clear if bill, SB 1369, be- comes law. The tribes agreed to distribute $5million next year among charities that prove with receipts how much they generated in the last year from the bingo machines.

The tribes eventually would be paid back by the churches and other nonprofit groups that use caller Five percent of the proceeds from linked bingo games would go to the tribes until the $5million is repaid. nancy.vogel@latimes.com Electronic bingo ban sought Bingo, from PageB1 TURF WAR: Indian tribes want a ban on electronic bingo machines that look like slot machines and have become popular at charity bingo halls. Robert Durell Los Angeles Times tion faces any serious competition in November. So legislators who have been procrastinating and shilly-shallying on the budget holding up payments, for example, to private vendors and care centers have to answer for it in November. Because of gerrymandering, there are few hot races even in seats, where no incumbent is running: probably just one in the Senate and four in the Assembly out of 100 contests according to Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book, which chronicles legislative races.

Proposition 11, sponsored by a host of good-government groups Common Cause, AARP, League of Women Voters would seize the power to draw its own districts and hand the job to an independent citizens commission. (Full disclosure: My daughter works for a firm that is handling some of the campaign.) Congressional lines still would be drawn by the Legislature a failed strategic move aimed at heading off campaign opposition from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). She came out against the measure anyway, apparently fearing it as an unwelcome foot-in-the-door to eventual fair redistricting of House seats. In fact, practically the entire Democratic establishment in California is opposed, fighting to retain its gerrymandering power. Some civil rights groups also are opposed, contending the measure sufficiently protect the Voting Rights Act.

The opposition campaign is headed by termed-out Senate leader Don Perata (D-Oakland), who reneged on a promise three years ago to produce a legislative version of redistricting reform. The Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday that the state prison guards union has donated $577,000 to aPerata political account to be used to fight Prop. 11. Most of the union funds have been delivered in the final weeks of the legislative session as the guards press the Legislature for a pay raise. They to be ashamed of AARP President Jeannine English told a media conference call, referring to both Perata and the union.

Schwarzenegger has donated about of his political money to the Prop. 11 campaign. Recently, the governor said he has witnessed firsthand in budget negotiations the need for redistricting reform and competitive general election races. Sitting in his conference room, Schwarzenegger told me: are saying things in here and I never want to repeat it because what we say in this office be repeated but clear that their hearts are sometimes in the right direction. But afraid to go back to their districts because get slaughtered.

could never win anything again. Their political career is Schwarzenegger was referring to the Republicans he has been trying to lobby for a tax increase. But he added: thing with the Democrats. They have those kind of With Republicans running so far to the right and Democrats to the left, the governor complained, meet in the Schwarzenegger also said like to see California return to an open primary. Ours was declared unconstitutional after both parties fought it in court.

But the U.S. Supreme Court in March approved an open primary in the state of Washington, in which there are no party nominations. Candidates from all political stripes run on the same primary ballot. The two top vote-getters regardless of party to the general election. This forces candidates to run more to the middle.

the redistricting and open primaries it would change the whole the governor contended. And also loosen up term limits. limits has not worked as far as concerned at he said, citing inexperience in budgeting. come up to me all the time and say, only done one never done a at he continued, referring to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles). leader, her first budget.

I mean, poor girl. She gets thrown into It makes it very, very difficult when people start from scratch all the good thing is we do have a lot of smart people in this building. all about the political Good people working in a bad system some of it, the gerrymandering, self-perpetuated by Democrats. george.skelton@latimes.com Gerrymandering is a key factor in budget stalemate PageB1.