Jeanne Córdova

Jeanne Córdova
Born (1948-07-18)July 18, 1948
Bremerhaven, Germany
Died January 10, 2016(2016-01-10) (aged 67)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation writer / activist
Nationality American
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles
Notable works When We Were Outlaws
Notable awards Lambda Literary 'Lammy Award', Publishing Triangle, Golden Crown

Jeanne Córdova (July 18, 1948 – January 10, 2016) was an American pioneer lesbian and gay rights activist, a founder of the West Coast LGBTQ movement, and a journalist and Lammy-award winning [1][2] author for her memoir When We Were Outlaws: a Memoir of Love and Revolution.[3][4]

Early years

Córdova was born in Bremerhaven, Germany in 1948,[5] the second oldest of twelve children born to a Mexican father and Irish American mother.[5] She attended high school at Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California, east of Los Angeles and went on to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Social Welfare. She 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.[6]

Life and career

Córdova entered the Immaculate Heart of Mary convent after high school in 1966, but left in 1968 and completed her social work degree while becoming a community organizer/activist and later a journalist.[6] She began her lesbian and gay rights career as Los Angeles chapter President of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB).[7] During her DOB presidency she opened the first lesbian center in Los Angeles, in 1971.[8]:136, 190 Under Córdova the DOB chapter newsletter evolved into The Lesbian Tide[9] with Córdova serving as editor and publisher of what became "the newspaper of record for the lesbian feminist decade"[10] (1970–1980), ranked "highest in the criteria of journalistic excellence",[11] and notable as the first American magazine to use the word "lesbian" in its title.[12]

In the 1970s Córdova was a key organizer of four lesbian conferences, among them the first West Coast Lesbian Conference at Metropolitan Community Church (1971) and the first National Lesbian Conference[13][8]:190 at the University of California, Los Angeles (1973). She also sat on the Board of the Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center and became the Human Rights Editor of the progressive weekly, the Los Angeles Free Press (1973–1976).

Córdova was elected as a delegate to the first National Women's Conference for International Women's Year in Houston[14] (1977), where she was a moving force behind the passage of the lesbian affirmative action resolution.[15] She was Southern California media director of the ballot campaign to defeat the anti-gay Proposition 6 Briggs Initiative[13] 1978), which sought to purge lesbian and gay teachers from California's public schools. She went on to be the founder of the National Lesbian Feminist Organization's first convention[15] (1978), and president of the Stonewall Democratic Club (1979–1981).

In the 1980s Córdova helped found the Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the Democratic Party and served as one of thirty openly lesbian delegates to the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City.[16] She was a founder of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Press Association (1983) and a founding board member of the Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres (1984–1988). She also worked as media director for STOP 64, a campaign that defeated the statewide California Proposition 64 (1986) La Rouche AIDS quarantine measure.[17]

During the 1980s and 1990s, Córdova published the Community Yellow Pages,[18] which became the first, and later the nation’s largest LGBT business directory (1981–1999). She also published the New Age Telephone Book[19] (1987–1992) and a queer cultural magazine, Square Peg Magazine (1992–94). In 1995 she was elected Board President of ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, and co-founded the Lesbian Legacy Collection at the ONE Archives with Yolanda Retter.

In 1999, Córdova sold the Community Yellow Pages and went to live for eight years in Todos Santos, BCS Mexico. She and Lynn Harris Ballen co-founded a non-profit organization for economic justice, The Palapa Society of Todos Santos, AC[20] and Córdova served as its first president until 2007.

Returning to Los Angeles, Córdova and Ballen co-founded LEX – The Lesbian Exploratorium which sponsored the art and history exhibit Genderplay in Lesbian Culture [21] (2009) and created the Lesbian Legacy Wall at ONE Archives[22] (2009). Córdova then organized and chaired the west coast Butch Voices Los Angeles 2010 Conference.[23][24]

Writing and journalism

Books

Anthologies

Columnist

News and feature stories

News and feature stories by Córdova been published in:The Guardian,The Nation, The Edge, Frontiers in LA, OUT! (New York City), the Washington Blade (D.C.), Orange County Blade, Philadelphia Gay News, The Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco), Seattle Gay News, The Body Politic (Boston), The Lesbian News (L.A.), Ten Percent Magazine (San Francisco), The Los Angeles Free Press, The Advocate, The Los Angeles Village View, ICON, and The Lesbian Tide.

Personal life

Córdova's life partner was Lynn Harris Ballen, a feminist radio journalist[25] and the daughter of South African freedom fighter Frederick John Harris. They live, write, and create history-themed lesbian feminist cultural events, exhibits and literature in the Hollywood Hills, California.[26]

Córdova died of metastatic colon cancer on January 10, 2016, at the age of 67.[27]

Awards and keynotes

Archival sources

Detailed records of Córdova's activist accomplishments—including records of The Lesbian Tide —are preserved in the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California. The collection, including an extensive photo collection, is fully processed and available for use by researchers. The Online Archive of California (a project of the California Digital Library) offers the complete finding aid.

References

  1. ↑ Lambda Literary Foundation. "24th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced in New York".
  2. ↑ Grindley, Lucas. "The Next Great LGBT Writers: Lambda Announces This Year's Winners". The Advocate.
  3. ↑ The Publishing Triangle. "Winners Announced for 2011's Best Lesbian and Gay Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Debut Fiction".
  4. ↑ Golden Crown Literary Society. "Award Winners for Short Story / Essay / Collections".
  5. 1 2 Stein, Mark (2004). Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America. USA: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 259. ISBN 9780684312613.
  6. 1 2 "One National Gay & Lesbian Archives" (PDF). onearchives.org.
  7. ↑ Gallo, Marcia M. (2007). Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement. Seal Press. pp. 136, 171. ISBN 9781580052528.
  8. 1 2 Lillian Faderman, Stuart Timmons (2006). Gay L. A.: A History of Social Vagrants, Hollywood Rejects, And Lipstick Lesbians. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465022885.
  9. ↑ Potter, Clare (1986). The Lesbian Periodicals Index. Naiad Press. ISBN 9780930044749.
  10. ↑ Stein, Marc (2004). Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America. USA: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 259–260. ISBN 9780684312613.
  11. ↑ Vida, Ginny (1978). Our right to love: a lesbian resource book. Prentice-Hall/National Gay Task Force. pp. 246–247. ISBN 9780136444015.
  12. ↑ Miller, By Meredith. Historical Dictionary of Lesbian Literature.
  13. 1 2 Dudley Clendinen,, Adam Nagourney (2001). Out For Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America. Simon and Schuster. pp. 164–167, 368. ISBN 9780684867434.
  14. ↑ "96 IWY Delegates for State Named". Los Angeles Times. July 12, 1977.
  15. 1 2 Streitmatter, Roger (1995). Unspeakable: The Rise of Gay and Lesbian Press in America. Faber & Faber. p. 225. ISBN 9780571198733.
  16. ↑ Handel, By Linda. Now that You're Out of the Closet: What about the Rest of the House?.
  17. ↑ "LHA Daughters of Bilitis Video Project: Jeanne Cordova, Tape 1 of 1, October 27, 1988". LHA Daughters of Bilitis Video Project.
  18. ↑ Johnson, Paul H. "Specialized Directories Business Is Looking Up". Los Angeles Times.
  19. ↑ Citron, Alan (Dec 7, 1988). "Find Guru of Your Dreams: Phonebook for a New Age". The Bulletin / Los Angeles Times.
  20. ↑ "The Palapa Society of Todos Santos, AC". Palapa Society.
  21. ↑ Beebe, Rachel. "Getting Playful With Gender".
  22. ↑ Kregloe, Karman. ""Our Lives on the Page" Celebrates 60 Years of Lesbian Publications". After Ellen.
  23. ↑ Watson, Julia. "BVLA 2010 Chair Jeanne "JR" Cordova Chats with Velvetpark". Velvetpark Media.
  24. ↑ Dahl, Elizabeth. "Addressing the "Butch" Stigma". West Hollywood Patch.
  25. ↑ "Feminist Magazine KPFK". feministmagazine.org.
  26. ↑ "Velvetpark's Official Top 25 Significant Queer Women of 2010 (page 5)". Velvetpark Media.
  27. ↑ "Lesbian Pioneer Jeanne Cordova Dies at 67".
  28. ↑ https://www.frontiersmedia.com/frontiers-blog/2015/06/13/weho-dyke-march-honors-lesbian-icon-jeanne-cordova/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ↑ Ocamb, Karen. "Wells Fargo Celebrates L.A. LGBT Legends". Frontiers Newsmagazine.
  30. ↑ Christopher Street West/LA Pride. "2009 Christopher Street West Los Angeles LGBT Pride Honorees".
  31. ↑ Johnson, Reed. "Up Against a Wall". Los Angeles Times.
  32. ↑ "Queer Frontiers Conference".

External links

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