Jeanne Córdova
A fearless butch lesbian activist who traded a nun's habit for a publisher's desk, building the infrastructure of the West Coast gay rights movement.
1948–2016 (age 68)·American writer·Birthday: July 18·Baby Boomers
Biography
Jeanne Córdova's life was a series of radical reinventions, each fueled by an unwavering commitment to justice. She began her adult life as a Catholic nun in the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, but left the order, propelled by her awakening identity. In the ferment of 1970s Los Angeles, she dove headfirst into activism. As editor and publisher of The Lesbian Tide, she gave the community a powerful, independent voice—one that was unapologetically feminist and lesbian-centered. Córdova was a builder. She co-founded the first National Lesbian Conference, helped organize the massive 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, and was a key figure in the West Coast movement's political maturation. In her later years, she chronicled this history in her award-winning memoir. She lived her truth with a fierce, strategic passion, creating the spaces and institutions that allowed others to find theirs.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Jeanne was born in 1948, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Jeanne Was Born
The biggest hits of 1948
#1 Movie
The Red Shoes
Best Picture
Hamlet
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Jeanne's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1948Born
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1953Started school
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1961Became a teenager
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1964Could drive
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1966Could vote
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Turned 21
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1978Turned 30
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 40
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 50
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 60
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2016Died at 68
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
Key Achievements
- Founded and served as publisher of The Lesbian Tide, a groundbreaking and influential national lesbian newspaper in the 1970s.
- Was a primary organizer of the first National Lesbian Conference in Los Angeles in 1973.
- Served as president of the Stonewall Democratic Club, a major LGBTQ political organization in Los Angeles.
- Authored the Lambda Literary Award-winning memoir 'When We Were Outlaws: A Memoir of Love & Revolution.'
Did You Know?
Before becoming an activist, she spent time as a nun in the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary.
She was a licensed contractor and ran her own construction and property management business for years.
She was life partners with journalist and author Lynn Harris Ballen for over two decades.
She served as the Southern California chair for the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
“I was born to be a rebel. I think some of us are just born that way.”
