Tribute to Wiggsy Sivertsen

TRIBUTE TO WIGGSY SIVERTSEN-HON. ZOE LOFGREN (Extensions of Remarks - September 09, 2004)

HON. ZOE LOFGREN OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, September 9, 2004

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, today (Mr. HONDA, Ms. ESHOO and I) rise to recognize the achievements of Wiggsy Sivertsen, Director of Counseling for San Jose State University and co-founder of Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee (BAYMEC), a four county Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) political action group celebrating 20 years of civil rights advocacy. Wiggsy is retiring from BAYMEC this year.

Wiggsy is currently the Director of Counseling Services and a visiting Professor in the Sociology Department at San Jose State University where she has been employed for the past 36 years. She is a graduate of Stephens College, San Jose State University and received her Master's degree from Tulane University in Social Work.

Wiggsy became involved in addressing the problems of discrimination against gays and lesbians when she was fired from a position when the organization found out about her lesbianism. She has dedicated her entire professional life educating the public about the LGBT communities and fighting for their rights and the rights of all "at risk" communities.

BAYMEC was founded to educate and inform, and has raised its concerns with countless elected officials; lobbied Sacramento and the state on AIDS and LGBT civil rights; and worked with police, fire department, governmental, organizational, and a variety of community groups to further equality for LGBTs. BAYMEC continues to lobby for hate crime legislation, transgender issues, domestic partnership rights and civil unions, and to bring LGBT sensitivity to the forefront in the domestic violence field.

Wiggsy has founded two other advocacy organizations: Advocates for Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Youth, which provides legal representation for gay, lesbian and bisexual youth who are discriminated against in the school system, and Open Mind Network, Inc. (OMNI), which is dedicated to educating organizations about lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

Wiggsy has received the American Civil Liberties Union "Don Edwards Defender of Constitutional Liberty Award." She has also been named to the "The Millennium 100, Pillars of their Communities" by the San Jose Mercury News, and received the California State Special Recognition Award For Service to the Lesbian and Gay Community.

We wish to thank Wiggsy Sivertsen for her tireless and loyal service to the cause of civil rights, and particularly the LGBT community. Though we will all miss her leadership in BAYMEC, the work of BAYMEC will move forward. Until all people are treated with dignity and respect, none of us can truly be free.

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