cfinput validation is not working

I have a CF8 cfform which contains several cfinput tags set to required.  If I submit the form without fillign otu those fields, I do get the popup message displaying the error message(s) but when I click ok on that popup, it still submits the form.

THis is a large form which I have split into 7 sections with only one visible at a time - kind of like a custom tabbed interface.

WHen the page loads, I am using jquery to hide all but the first tab.  The last tab which contains the submit button is hidden on page load.

It seems like if I keep the submit button visible on page load, the cfform validation works, but I want the submit button to only be displayed on the last step of this tabbed form.

How can I get the cfform validation to work when the submit button is hidden on page load?