Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - June 4, 2009
Matthew S. Bajko, m.bajko@ebar.com
The former state senator, known for her brass knuckle tactics and often frosty demeanor while in office, was on hand at the May 28 event to receive the club's Harry Britt Lifetime Achievement Award, just one of many honors the club bestowed on its female leaders throughout the years. Migden served as president in 1983 and 1984, at a time when AIDS was devastating the community.
As proposed state and city budget cuts for the 2009 fiscal year threaten San Francisco's network of HIV services and prevention programs, Migden called on the club to rededicate itself to ending the epidemic.
"I was proud to be president of this club in 1983 when we were hysterical about HIV. Let's not let young kids seroconvert because they believe they can simply take some drugs and live a long time," said Migden. "Let's go back to the roots of this club and its activism. Let's do what we can do now for people in love and the people we can protect."
With the dinner coming two days after the state Supreme Court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage, Migden sounded a positive note that in 2010 the LGBT community would be able to repeal the anti-gay measure.
"In two years we can all get married if we want too," she said. Though at one point she joked, "If you can't wait, you are allowed to go to Connecticut," referring to the fact that the New England state is one of six to allow same-sex couples to wed.
In a short interview with the Bay Area Reporter , Migden said she has been enjoying her time out of public office and the work she is doing on the state's Integrated Waste Management Board, which brings her back to Sacramento several times a week. Since leaving the Legislature in November, she and her partner, attorney Cris Arguedas, have traveled to Berlin, Egypt, and Rwanda to see its mountain gorillas.
"It isn't always your choice to be defeated," said Migden, whose re-election efforts ended when then-Assemblyman Mark Leno won last June's Democratic primary for her 3rd District Senate seat. "If that is the case, other opportunities present themselves, that's the wonderful thing about life. I like my new job on the waste board and have been enjoying meeting young community activists here in San Francisco."
Migden said she has yet to decide if she will try to return to the Board of Supervisors, where she served for six years in the 1990s, next year by running in District 10. To do so, she would have to move to one of the city's eastern neighborhoods, such as the Bayview or Hunter's Point.
"Yes, I am considering it. In fairness, that is where it is at," she said.
The club honored three of its past female presidents with 31st anniversary Women of the Milk Club Awards: Gwenn Craig, Angie Fa, and Debra Walker. Craig accepted her honor on behalf of all the "great women" who have been in the club.
"Lesbians have been a big part of what built this club," said Craig, who became the first female Milk Club president in 1981. "I hope you always remember women's contributions are so important to what our movement is all about."
Miss Major, an African American transgender woman, earned the club's Bayard Rustin Award for her work on HIV and incarceration issues impacting the transgender community. She urged club members not to overlook transgender women as part of its coalition building.
"If we stick together and fight together we can get these motherfuckers off our backs," she said.
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