Martin-Lyons Old Lesbian Pride Award
Created to honor Phyllis Lyon, 1924-2020, and Del Martin, 1921-2008—activists, pathfinders, and OLOC affiliates—the $500 Award will be presented to a Lesbian 70 years or older whose life and work have impacted and will continue to impact the lives of Old Lesbians.
The recipient of the Del Martin Phyllis Lyon award is honored at our Gatherings. Nominations may submit nine months before the Gathering convenes.
Del and Phyllis were out, proud, and unapologetic when few were. They forged an enduring image that continues to inspire generations of Lesbians around the globe. In 1955, with others, they co-founded The Daughters of Bilitis, the first US Lesbian organization, and they also published the groundbreaking monthly newsletter, The Ladder, the first nationally-distributed Lesbian publication. In 1972, they co-wrote the equally groundbreaking book Lesbian/Woman. Their writing and tireless activism on behalf of women earned much praise, many awards, and an invitation to the White House, and drew upon the great strengths of Lesbian tradition, advancing our visibility and pride and carrying that heritage forward.
In April 2020, following Phyllis’s death, the Award was renamed from the Del Martin Old Lesbian Pride Award to the Martin-Lyon Old Lesbian Pride Award to reflect the fact that their work was done together as partners.
2025 Award
Dr. Delores Walters, 1944, has been involved with OLOC since 2013 and was instrumental in starting the Lesbians of Color Zoom discussion group (contact gypsy@oloc.org). She presented a two-part program on Margaret Garner for our monthly End White Dominance series in June 2021 that led to the creation of the group. She continues to attend meetings and is a vital part of it. Another reason why this Gathering is so special is: it will be the first time in OLOC’s herstory that the keynote speaker, entertainer, facilitator of LOC Day, and recipient of the Martin–Lyon Award are all Black, African American Old Lesbians!
We heard from Barb Kucharczyk, 1948, Lt. Colonel, USAF, Retired, who said: Delores is also a US Air Force veteran, serving during the Vietnam War as a nurse stationed in Japan. Delores has taken her rightful place in our women’s military service history by registering her Air Force service with the Military Women’s Memorial (located at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia). As the South Carolina Ambassador for the Memorial, I would be remiss in my duty (to inform and educate the public about it) if I did not bring Delores’s membership to your attention.
In Delores’s words, she was “an Air Force nurse during the Viet Nam [as Vietnamese people spell it] era, obtaining the rank of Captain while stationed in Japan.”
Previous Winners
- 2023 Award: Linda L. Wilson, 1949
- 2022 Award: Elana Dykewomon, 1949–2022
- 2019 Award: Ruth Berman, 1934, and Connie Kurtz, 1936-2018
- 2017 Award: Carol Anne Douglas, 1946
- 2014 Award: Arden Eversmeyer, 1931 & Joan Emerson, 1935
- 2012 Award: Joy D. Griffith, 1935
- 2010 Award: Kathy Glass, 1932-2014, and Carmah Lawler, 1929-2020, (partners for 32 years)