The present invention relates to a delatching mechanism for an electronic module, such as an opto-electronic transceiver or a copper transceiver, for locking the electronic module in a host cage. The delatching mechanism enables a conventional small form factor (SFP) sized module to be unlatched while a cable remains engaged therein. A manually engageable lever, such as a bail handle, is rotatably connected on one end of a pivoting latch, and includes a projection for abutting against the module housing for distributing the force applied to the bail to one end of the pivoting latch, whereby the other end of the pivoting latch rotates away from engagement with the host cage.