“It was a long process,” Bailey said. “After admitting to myself I was a lesbian, I ended my marriage and decided to do my part to help the community.”

She began speaking to schools and giving fellow teachers tools to better serve the younger community.

“When you aren’t out to the community, there’s a sense of being cautious,” Bailey said. “You always have to stop and think, 'Do we hold hands or to what degree do you wish to be out?' You aren’t able to do things straight couples do without thinking in terms of how to function publicly.”

Bailey said she’s not afraid of losing her job, but she knows of others who are. She said she remembers how internally isolated she felt before coming out. She said she now feels much more free and wants others to feel the same.

Charles Farnum has been working closely on the ordinance with Bailey and said if it passes, long-term couples can be seen together without fear of losing a job, he said.

Males will be able to hold hands across a table without being asked to leave a restaurant. Two post-college women will be able to rent an apartment together without inquiries into whether they're "just sharing or living together," he said.

“People that are against the ordinance for different reasons, including religious ones, can believe anything they wish,” Bailey said. “But they don’t have the right to discriminate against other people.”

She said if someone can perform their job or are good renters, why does it matter what their sexuality is?

Bailey said religious organizations will not be forced to hire people of the LGBT community. The ordinance simply states people can’t be fired, turned away from a place of business and kicked out of a housing situation because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Farnum said everyone should have the right to work, eat in public and rent a place to stay, regardless of who they fall in love with. That's not the case right now in Mount Pleasant, but he said he hopes it will soon be.

“This is so people know they can’t be turned away,” Bailey said. “No one should have to pretend; they should be able to be who they are.”

It’s this fear that’s created when someone can’t be out, she said; without this protection, it limits people’s lives.

Bailey and her group will have ten minutes to present to the commission to include the LGBTQ community in the anti-discrimination ordinance.

"I sat down next to Norma; I did not know her at the time and saw an opportunity to use my past experience with community organizing to help a cause I believed in," Farnum said. "Norma is a bundle of energy and has a wonderfully positive outlook on people. She works with determination on her goals, while being aware of her limitations and open to different ideas — a rare combination, in my experience. It's been great."

If the ordinance passes, Bailey said she hopes it’s part of the tremendous advancement of rights for the LGBTQ community she has seen come about over the years.

After she retires from the her first love of teaching in a couple years, Bailey said she will continue to involve herself in social justice.

“I grew up in the '50s and '60s. I didn’t do much, and looking back, I could’ve done more,” she said. “You have to ask yourself what is the difference I myself am making. It’s so invigorating to know I’m doing something proactive about an issue.

“I never thought in my lifetime I would see gay people be married,” Bailey said. “The problem is some hate is still there.”