Lynn Harris Ballen
Lynn Harris Ballen is the Senior Producer of Feminist Magazine – an intersectional radioshow/podcast. Born and raised in South Africa, she has been longtime lesbian activist in Los Angeles and currently serves on the board for DykeDay LA and the founding committee for Lambda Litfest. She has co-produced publications, conferences, and lesbian art/history exhibits that include Square Peg Magazine, ‘GenderPlay in Lesbian Culture’, the ‘Lesbian Legacy Wall’ at ONE Archives, ‘Lesbians To Watch Out For: ’90s Queer LA Activism’, and the ‘ButchVoicesLA’ conference.
Lynn Harris Ballen: Wife of Jeanne Córdova and Activist
Lynn Harris Ballen is an activist in her right, best known to the public through her role as the wife of Jeanne Córdova, a front figure for the LGBTQ+ rights social movement. Ballen is a great activist and radio producer, very deeply committed to matters of social justice and equality. Her life and work with Córdova have done much for the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights and feminist causes.
Lynn Harris Ballen’s Role in Jeanne Córdova’s Life and Activism
The partnership between Lynn Harris Ballen and Jeanne Córdova was one of admiration, love, and activism shared in equal parts. They found a way to support each other through a great deal of the adversity entailed in trying to advance recognition for gay rights in an inhospitable and largely unreceptive world. Not only was this a source of personal sucrose for Cordova, but the relationship was a powerful example of two people in a committed partnership that fueled not only their activism but their personal lives as well.
Ballen supported Córdova in many of her pursuits, from her work with The Lesbian Tide to an effort to document the history of LGBTQ+ people. Their home was a center for activists, writers, and thinkers who were a part of the larger struggle for justice. The strength within their relationship was matched only by the visions they harbored of building a more just world, making them quite the team in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.
Lynn Harris Ballen’s Activism
If Jeanne Córdova was very much the public individual, then Lynn Harris Ballen was very much the activist behind her, moving, in her own right, the whole cause forward. Ballen has worked on a variety of projects in furtherance of social justice, as well being an accomplished radio producer. Her material often aspires at giving a voice to those on the periphery of existence and continues the work of the activist partnership she shared with Córdova.
Continuing the Legacy
In the years since Jeanne Córdova’s death in 2016, Harris Ballen has remained a strong and steady force, securing the work they had started continued in her name. She has been actively keeping alive the work of Córdova through project-assembling documentation and celebration of the history of LGBTQ+ lives and culture. What Ballen does works to continue the legacy of Córdova, while what she has accomplished in activism is an open page turned by the continuous pen to be marveled at and empowered by in updates to the history of tomorrow’s activists.
Lynn Harris Ballen’s Impact on the LGBTQ+ Community
Though a bit understated, Lynn Harris Ballen’s contributions to the LGBTQ+ community are deep. Through her association with Jeanne Córdova and her solo work, Ballen has made a number of great contributions toward the attainment of rights and increased visibility for LGBTQ+ persons. Her contributions to social justice, the fight she still wages, ensure that the principles she and Córdova fought for survive in the community.
A Partnership of Equals
This was an equal partnership, and both Lynn Harris Ballen and Jeanne Córdova brought very special strengths to the relationship. While that partnership greatly enriched both their lives, it also created a lasting legacy within the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. Ballen’s support never wavered, and her contributions to the cause have made her a notable figure in her own right, guaranteeing that her legacy, alongside Córdova’s, will be remembered for years to come.
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