CL/LL was initiated by eight lesbians who were living in the Los Angeles area in late 1980; Catherine Nicholson and Harriet Desmoines, co-founders of periodical Sinister Wisdom encouraged the women by stating that more lesbian journals were needed because Sinister Wisdom received more submissions than it could print. Cindy Cleary, Anne Lee, and Tracy Moore (Moore had been involved in the collective that published Iowa City's feminist newsletter "Ain’t I a Woman?" from 1971–1974) formed the core group of the journal, and all worked on the magazine after their move to Iowa City later that year.