Del Martin, a trailblazing lesbian rights activist, died yesterday at 87. She and Phyllis Lyon, her partner of fifty-five years, were the first same-sex couple to be married in California not once but twice - first in 2004, when San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom briefly legalized gay marriage, and then in 2008, after a California Supreme Court ruling affirmed the right to same-sex marriage. Del and Phyllis were and are a source of hope for those of us who have despaired, at one point or another, that things would never get better for LGBT people, and their commitment to each other serves as a powerful rebuke to those who would have us believe that same-sex love is in any way inferior. Some of her first published words offer a motto to live by: "Nothing was ever accomplished by hiding in a dark corner." So cheers to you, Del Martin, and may your memory continue to inspire us all to come out of our corners and carry on the fight you started.