Introduction

The Lesbian Mothers National Defense Fund (LMNDF) was started by a group of young lesbians in Seattle WA in 1974 in order to provide support to lesbians across the United States who were leaving heterosexual marriages and fighting for custody of their children. Starting with a small group of women and an even smaller amount of money, the LMNDF held fund raisers, raised awareness, collected resources, educated lawyers, paid for court costs and generally supported lesbian mothers.