One of the driving forces behind the conference was Jeanne Córdova, an activist who once led the L.A. chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first civil rights and political organization for lesbians in the United States, and the editor behind the Lesbian Tide, a feminist publication. At the beginning of the National Lesbian Conference, Córdova said men were banned from attending. She then had to quell outrage when musician Beth Elliott, a transgender woman, stepped on stage to perform. The conference was split on whether Elliott should be permitted, and Córdova called a vote. Although a majority voted in favor of Elliott’s performance, the reaction to her presence was an example of the divide between those who supported trans women and those who refused to accept them as members of the lesbian community. In her book, “Mirrors: Portrait of a Lesbian Transsexual,” Elliott writes that she received a death threat prior to attending the conference, which she also helped organize.