| Permalink Archive for August, 2008
Del Martin, dead at age 87
August 27, 2008 | 
News Reports
Del Martin was recently in the news when Gavin Newsom chose her and her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, to be the first same sex couple married in San Francisco when same sex marriage was legalized in California. They were also the first couple married by Gavin Newsom on February 14, 2004, when the mayor began issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. Del Martin has a long history as an activist for lesbian rights and visibility when she and her wife founded The Daughters of Bilitis back in 1955, the first lesbian rights organization. This organization set the stage for more social groups, activist groups, political groups, and the fight for civil rights. All her life, Del Martin served the community as an activist for lesbian, gay and feminist organizations. We owe this great woman a debt of gratitude.
She passed with her wife at her side in San Francisco.
Read more at nclrights.org
The Woman on the Fifth Floor
August 21, 2008 | Uncategorized
A year or more ago I met a woman in the elevator at the office who complimented me on my boots. I wear big black Frye engineer boots under my pinstripe pants. We chatted only briefly and she got off the elevator at the fifth floor. I never forgot her. The woman from the fifth floor. I wish we had more time or that I had been thinking fast enough to give her my number. I work for a totally different company on the seventh floor, so I have no chance of meeting her outside of the elevator. Or so I thought. Today at the coffee shop on the first floor of our building I spotted an attractive woman hiding behind sunglasses. It took me a moment but I recognized her as the woman from the fifth floor. She had cut her hair. I had also cut my hair and I wasn’t wearing the boots so she didn’t recognize me. Maybe she doesn’t remember me at all. I ran behind her, hoping to catch her in the elevator again. I missed her elevator by just a second, and I’m certain that she didn’t even see me. I don’t know when I might ever see her again. I suppose it’s fun to have a little fantasy like this.
This got me thinking about dating again. I’m still really skeptical about the whole thing after the massive dating train wreck I had a while back. It wasn’t so much that I was hurt or emotionally damaged. It’s just that I failed to take anything past three dates with everyone I dated for a whole year. I guess my pride was hurt a bit. I decided that I really needed to just spend more time with my friends rather than spending so much time and energy searching for new people. I even went so far as to specifically decline phone numbers. That probably wasn’t so smart, but it’s too late now. With thoughts of the woman from the fifth floor on my mind, I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s time to put myself out there again.
