At the 1977 National Women's Conference, Friedan seconded the lesbian rights resolution "which everyone thought I would oppose" in order to "preempt any debate" and move on to other issues she believed were more important and less divisive in the effort to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution.Friedan, Betty. Life So Far, op. cit. Page 295. The lesbian rights resolution passed. In November 1977 the National Women's Conference issued the National Plan of Action, which stated in part, "Congress, State, and local legislatures should enact legislation to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual and affectional preference in areas including, but not limited to, employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, public facilities, government funding, and the military. State legislatures should reform their penal codes or repeal State laws that restrict private sexual behavior between consenting adults. State legislatures should enact legislation that would prohibit consideration of sexual or affectional orientation as a factor in any judicial determination of child custody or visitation rights. Rather, child custody cases should be evaluated solely on the merits of which party is the better parent, without regard to that person's sexual and affectional orientation."Plan of Action. Lindagriffith.com (1978-01-15). Retrieved on 2014-07-25. Del Martin was the first open lesbian elected to NOW's board of directors, and Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were the first lesbian couple to join NOW.
