Jeanne Cordova, American LGBT activist, Died at 67

  Activist

Jeanne Córdova was born on July 18, 1948, and died on January 10, 2016.

She was a pioneer lesbian and gay rights activist.

Jeanne Cordova was a student at Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California, east of Los Angeles and went on to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Cordova graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare.

Jeanne interned in the African-American and Latino communities of Watts & East Los Angeles and earned a Master’s degree in Social Work at UCLA in 1972.

She was the first open lesbian to appear in Who’s Who in America (1978–79).

Jeanne Cordova was the founder of the West Coast LGBTQ movement.

She was the Lammy-award winning author for her memoir When We Were Outlaws: a Memoir of Love and Revolution.

She was awarded the Honored in Wells Fargo LGBT history mural, in West Hollywood, the Cultural Hero Visibility Award, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives (2003), the Rainbow Key Award for lifetime community service, City of West Hollywood (2002), the Recognition Award “for pioneering work on behalf of gay and lesbian rights”. Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (1998), the Pioneer of the Movement award (for role in co-founding the gay civil rights movement on the West Coast in the 1970s.

Her books include; When We Were Outlaws; A Memoir of Love & Revolution (2011) Spinsters Ink Books. (ISBN 9781935226512), Kicking the Habit: A Lesbian Nun Story (1990) Multiple Dimensions. (ISBN 9780962508004), and Sexism: It’s A Nasty Affair (1974) New Way Book.

Her life partner was Lynn Harris Ballen, a feminist radio journalist, and the daughter of South African freedom fighter Frederick John Harris.

The worked together.

Jeanne Cordova passed away at 67 yrs old due to brain cancer on January 10, 2016.