Carolyn Weathers is a pioneering American LGBTQ+ activist, author, publisher, and retired librarian who played a crucial role in the early gay liberation movement in Los Angeles. Weathers was one of 35 Los Angeles Gay Liberation Front members who famously infiltrated an American Psychiatric Association (APA) conference at the Biltmore Hotel. The resulting dialogue directly contributed to the APA officially declassifying homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973. In 1970, she became one of the very first openly lesbian guests to appear on television when she spoke on a Regis Philbin talk show. To ensure more sapphic voices were heard, she and her then-partner Jenny Wrenn co-founded Clothespin Fever Press (1986–1994), one of the earliest lesbian-feminist publishing houses in Southern California, which published 22 books by 33 authors. In 2015, the City of Los Angeles formally honored Weathers as an unsung hero for her lifelong contributions to the LGBTQ+ community.

Sara Angevine is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Whittier College. Angevine specializes in gender, sexuality, and political representation. Her work has been published in Political Research Quarterly, Politics and Gender, and Politics, Groups, and Identities. She teaches courses on Sexuality and Politics at Whittier College, University of Southern California, and Queer University. Angevine is currently working on a research project focused on lesbian identity politics.