Leader

When she began campaigning door to door for the Nevada Legislature in 1974, Sue Wagner encountered people who did not believe she should be running for office because she had two small children. Things have changed a lot since then, and she has become an assemblymember, state senator, lieutenant governor and gambling regulator.

Why is it that, as in Alabama, loyalty to feminist principles is trumped by party or ideology?

I can’t answer the question. I don’t understand it. I think that hopefully this is a tipping point where now women will not tolerate [sexual harassment], and men will understand that they should not do it. I don’t know. I’m hopeful. I think that the Democrats have taken a position in Washington of doing the morally right thing. People can say that’s a political stance, and it may well be, but—hey, I think that’s a good thing. Whether its political or moralistic, it’s the right thing to do. I’m sorry about Al Franken, but clearly he had pushed the line. It’s interesting that the Republicans have done nothing with some of their own, and, in fact, Donald Trump’s conduct should be investigated.

Women are having quite a renaissance. It was women who forced a U.S. senator to resign. It is women who have pushed sexual harassment to the fore.

I waited for 45 years for the Equal Rights Amendment to be passed. I’ve been waiting for the renaissance to occur for more years than that. I think the empowerment of women is what should occur in this country, and I find it interesting that the two women who have strength, who have challenged the establishment—Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi—are the ones that are most marked, most criticized. And it boggles my mind that Nancy Pelosi—I’ll use her as an example—never lost a vote as speaker of the House, and you can compare her to Paul Ryan today. There is a huge difference. And I think that those women stand out, but I think it’s wonderful that the average, everyday woman feels more comfortable in speaking out and standing up today.

What does this rise in women’s influence mean?

I have to give credit to Ashley Judd. It was Ashley Judd who was the one who went to the New York Times, talked to the New York Times, and then all of a sudden the outpouring occurred. She took a risk. … I think what it means, hopefully, and I say hopefully, that it means that we need to have discussions with men. I think men have to be involved in this discussion because they’re in the power positions. It all goes back to what I said way back in the ’70s when I actually admitted I was a feminist—that women are viewed as property. And I think that’s exactly what goes on today. … Men are basically in a power position, and so they’re able to get away with it. I think the answer is for women to be in power positions.

Are you going to march this month?

I don’t know. A lot depends on whether I’m feeling up to it. [Wagner was in a small plane crash in 1990 and suffered enduring injuries.]