SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27 (UPI) — Lesbian rights activist Del Martin, whose health had been failing for some time, died Wednesday in San Francisco. She was 87.

This summer, Martin was wheelchair-bound when she married her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, in one of California’s first same-sex wedding.

“Her last act of activism was her most personal — marrying the love of her life,” Kate Kendell, a friend and executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Martin, who co-founded the lesbian rights organization Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, died at UCSF Hospice, nearly two weeks after being admitted with a broken arm.

“Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn’t be by my side,” Lyon said in a statement issued by the center. “I am so lucky to have known her, loved her and been her partner in all things.”

Martin, whose given name was Dorothy but who went by Del, is survived by a daughter, Kendra Mon, from a brief first marriage when she was 19, and two grandchildren.

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