Jeanne Córdova, a pioneering lesbian and gay rights activist who lived in Los Angeles, died on Jan. 10 at the age of 67. Córdova served as president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis. She also organized the first West Coast Lesbian Conference at Metropolitan Community Church in 1971 and the first National Lesbian Conferenceat the UCLA in 1973. Among her many other accomplishments was helping found the Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the Democratic Party and serving as one of 30 lesbian delegates to the 1980 Democratic National Convention.
Córdova’s longtime friend, Ivy Bottini, herself a noted lesbian and woman’s rights activist and a resident of West Hollywood, remembered Córdova in a moving speech to the West Hollywood City Council on Tuesday night. A clip of Bottini’s speech from a video of the council meeting is posted above.
