Matthew J. Lyon grew up near the mouth of the Ogden Canyon in Ogden, Utah. He is the Chair of the Northern Utah Stonewall Democrats, Membership and Community Events Co-Chair for the Human Rights Campaign of Utah, and on the Utah Pride Center Board of Directors.

Matthew has been involved with Equality Utah, Weber County Democrats, Sundance Film Festival, Queer Lounge, and the Los Angeles AIDS Walk. He currently works for a banking conglomerate in check fraud. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, traveling, art, and the company of his cat, Miss Luxy.