After completing a bachelor's degree in psychology at Reed College,[2] she worked at department stores in Oregon and Washington state.
Following a car accident that left her with a broken neck, she was unable to sit down for long periods of time, so she became a sign painter.
[3] Sandoz later moved from Oregon to San Francisco, where she joined the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), a lesbian rights organization, in 1956.
[3][5] When the DOB folded in 1970, Sandoz chose not to follow most of its members to the newly formed National Organization for Women, since she did not agree with its rhetoric and wanted to campaign for the rights of gay men as well as lesbians.
From 1958, they lived together in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, until Sandoz's death from lung cancer on June 7, 1987.