SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Gay rights pioneer Phyllis Lyon who with her longtime partner was among the first same-sex couples to marry, has died.
Then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to challenge state marriage laws by issuing licenses to everyone in 2004, but the state Supreme Court voided the unions before overturning the state’s ban on gay marriage in 2008.
They wed again that year, shortly before her wife Del Martin died at the age of 87. The couple had been together more than 50 years.
Newsom, California’s governor, announced her death and called her one of his heroes.
She died of natural causes at her San Francisco home. Lyon was 95.
Same-sex couple Del Martin (L) and Phyllis Lyon (C) are sworn in by an offical before being married by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom (2R) in a private ceremony at San Francisco City Hall June 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Martin and Lyon were the first couples to be married in San Francisco as same-sex marriages become legal in California AFP PHOTO / POOL / Marcio Jose Sanchez (Photo credit should read Marcio Jose Sanchez/AFP via Getty Images) 
SAN FRANCISCO – JUNE 16: Same-sex couple Del Martin (L) and Phyllis Lyon (R) exchange rings as they are married by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom in a private ceremony at San Francisco City Hall June 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Martin and Lyon were the first couples to be married in San Francisco as same-sex marriages become legal in California. (Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez-Pool/Getty Images) 
Same-sex couple Del Martin (L) and Phyllis Lyon (R) are married by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom (C) in a private ceremony at San Francisco City Hall June 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Martin and Lyon were the first couples to be married in San Francisco as same-sex marriages become legal in California. AFP PHOTO / POOL / Marcio Jose Sanchez (Photo credit should read Marcio Jose Sanchez/AFP via Getty Images) 
Same-sex couple Del Martin (L) and Phyllis Lyon (R) are married by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom (C) in a private ceremony at San Francisco City Hall June 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Martin and Lyon were the first couples to be married in San Francisco as same-sex marriages become legal in California. AFP PHOTO / POOL / Marcio Jose Sanchez (Photo credit should read Marcio Jose Sanchez/AFP via Getty Images) 
SAN FRANCISCO – JUNE 16: Same-sex couple Del Martin (L) and Phyllis Lyon (R) kiss after they were married by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom in a private ceremony at San Francisco City Hall June 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Martin and Lyon were the first couples to be married in San Francisco as same-sex marriages become legal in California. (Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez-Pool/Getty Images) 
SAN FRANCISCO – JUNE 16: Del Martin (L) and Phyllis Lyon cut their wedding cake during a reception after the couple was married by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom in a private ceremony at San Francisco City Hall June 16, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Martin and Lyon were the first couples to be married in San Francisco as same-sex marriages become legal in California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) 
Phyllis Lyon (C), the first woman to be married in a same-sex partnership in San Francisco, walks with the help of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (R) and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (L) inside City Hall on June 26, 2013 in San Francisco. The US Supreme Court struck down The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) today, and declared that same-sex couples who are legally married deserve equal rights to the benefits under federal law that go to all other married couples. In another ruling, the Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California as the justices, in a prcedural ruling, turned away the defenders of Proposition 8. AFP PHOTO/Josh Edelson (Photo credit should read Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images) 
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 26: Phyllis Lyon (C), half of the first same-sex couple to be married in San Francisco’s 2008 gay marriages, is escorted by California Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom (L) and San Francisco mayor Ed Lee during a rally after hearing results from the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings on gay marriage in City Hall June 26, 2013 in San Francisco, United States. The high court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and ruled that supporters of California’s ban on gay marriage, Proposition 8, could not defend it before the Supreme Court. Lyon was widowed two months after she married Del Martin. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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