Bakersfield's gay and lesbian community is celebrating the life of Nancy J. Bailey, an activist and former Cal State Bakersfield professor who died from undisclosed causes June 25 in San Francisco at the age of 78.
An outspoken "rabble-rouser" at a time when gay activism was far more rare than it is now, Bailey worked with the late gay activist Francis Serra to organize protests following a four-year prison sentence given to a local businessman found guilty in 1982 of manslaughter in the deaths of his two gay neighbors.
Bailey helped found organizations including the California Teachers Association's Gay and Lesbian Caucus, and was an advisor to CSUB's Gay and Lesbian Alliance. She was also a reproductive rights advocate who received about a quarter of the vote when she ran for mayor of Bakersfield in the mid-1980s.
"She wasn't one to back down from a fight," said Whitney Weddell, chairwoman of Bakersfield LGBTQ. If someone told her to be quiet, "she'd speak twice as loud for twice as long," Weddell said, affectionately calling her former mentor a "rabble-rouser."
Bailey was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Nov. 25, 1937, the only daughter of Joseph K. Bailey and Dorothy L. Bailey. Growing up with three brothers in an athletic family, she excelled in speed skating, softball and golf.
According to CSUB, Bailey earned a degree at the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1964, followed by a doctorate in physical education at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and a master's in counseling at CSUB.
In 1974, Bailey accepted a position teaching physical education at CSUB, where she lectured full-time until 2003 and, in retirement, until 2008. She served several terms as chair of the university's Department of Physical Education, was active in its Women Studies Minor committee and earned the honorary title of professor emerita.
In her honor, the CTA created a Nancy Bailey Leadership in Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Award, which the union gives to individual members whose activities "have helped to achieve significant equity and equality for the lesbian, gay and bisexual community."
Joanne Schmidt, a former CSUB professor of French, Spanish and gender studies, said Bailey was comfortable marching and holding a picket, and that her courage and friendliness inspired others to join her.
"She was a very amazing person, first to lend a hand," Schmidt said. "She had a positive attitude that was infectious and motivated all who knew her."
Jan Hefner, past-president of the Gay & Lesbian Center of Bakersfield, recalled witnessing Bailey introduce herself as a mayoral candidate to a man who was running for a local school board at the time. She said Bailey immediately identified herself as lesbian, leaving the man speechless.
"It was a kind of forthrightness that most people in those days did not, you know, just didn't have," Hefner said. "With Nancy, it was almost to take it off the table as a point of reference."
"She was really a pioneer for everything we've been able to achieve in the last several years, and this last year in particular."
Schmidt said Bailey, who in recent years made a home in San Francisco, had been suffering from various ailments recently, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Bailey is survived by her domestic partner, Suzan Rollins, and her brothers, Raymond J. "Jim" Bailey of Des Moines, Iowa, and Alan J. "Al" Bailey of Inverness, Fla.
There were no local memorial services, but her friends say a celebration of her life has been scheduled for Aug. 27 at an undisclosed, private residence in Bakersfield.
~ source:
https://www.bakersfield.com/news/csub-professor-helped-pioneer-lgbt-activism-in-bakersfield/article_240c39eb-13a9-5057-8124-e44ab79acab5.html
An outspoken "rabble-rouser" at a time when gay activism was far more rare than it is now, Bailey worked with the late gay activist Francis Serra to organize protests following a four-year prison sentence given to a local businessman found guilty in 1982 of manslaughter in the deaths of his two gay neighbors.
Bailey helped found organizations including the California Teachers Association's Gay and Lesbian Caucus, and was an advisor to CSUB's Gay and Lesbian Alliance. She was also a reproductive rights advocate who received about a quarter of the vote when she ran for mayor of Bakersfield in the mid-1980s.
"She wasn't one to back down from a fight," said Whitney Weddell, chairwoman of Bakersfield LGBTQ. If someone told her to be quiet, "she'd speak twice as loud for twice as long," Weddell said, affectionately calling her former mentor a "rabble-rouser."
Bailey was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Nov. 25, 1937, the only daughter of Joseph K. Bailey and Dorothy L. Bailey. Growing up with three brothers in an athletic family, she excelled in speed skating, softball and golf.
According to CSUB, Bailey earned a degree at the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1964, followed by a doctorate in physical education at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and a master's in counseling at CSUB.
In 1974, Bailey accepted a position teaching physical education at CSUB, where she lectured full-time until 2003 and, in retirement, until 2008. She served several terms as chair of the university's Department of Physical Education, was active in its Women Studies Minor committee and earned the honorary title of professor emerita.
In her honor, the CTA created a Nancy Bailey Leadership in Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Award, which the union gives to individual members whose activities "have helped to achieve significant equity and equality for the lesbian, gay and bisexual community."
Joanne Schmidt, a former CSUB professor of French, Spanish and gender studies, said Bailey was comfortable marching and holding a picket, and that her courage and friendliness inspired others to join her.
"She was a very amazing person, first to lend a hand," Schmidt said. "She had a positive attitude that was infectious and motivated all who knew her."
Jan Hefner, past-president of the Gay & Lesbian Center of Bakersfield, recalled witnessing Bailey introduce herself as a mayoral candidate to a man who was running for a local school board at the time. She said Bailey immediately identified herself as lesbian, leaving the man speechless.
"It was a kind of forthrightness that most people in those days did not, you know, just didn't have," Hefner said. "With Nancy, it was almost to take it off the table as a point of reference."
"She was really a pioneer for everything we've been able to achieve in the last several years, and this last year in particular."
Schmidt said Bailey, who in recent years made a home in San Francisco, had been suffering from various ailments recently, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Bailey is survived by her domestic partner, Suzan Rollins, and her brothers, Raymond J. "Jim" Bailey of Des Moines, Iowa, and Alan J. "Al" Bailey of Inverness, Fla.
There were no local memorial services, but her friends say a celebration of her life has been scheduled for Aug. 27 at an undisclosed, private residence in Bakersfield.
~ source:
https://www.bakersfield.com/news/csub-professor-helped-pioneer-lgbt-activism-in-bakersfield/article_240c39eb-13a9-5057-8124-e44ab79acab5.html
Bakersfield's gay and lesbian community is celebrating the life of Nancy J. Bailey, an activist and former Cal State Bakersfield professor who died from undisclosed causes June 25 in San Francisco at the age of 78.
An outspoken "rabble-rouser" at a time when gay activism was far more rare than it is now, Bailey worked with the late gay activist Francis Serra to organize protests following a four-year prison sentence given to a local businessman found guilty in 1982 of manslaughter in the deaths of his two gay neighbors.
Bailey helped found organizations including the California Teachers Association's Gay and Lesbian Caucus, and was an advisor to CSUB's Gay and Lesbian Alliance. She was also a reproductive rights advocate who received about a quarter of the vote when she ran for mayor of Bakersfield in the mid-1980s.
"She wasn't one to back down from a fight," said Whitney Weddell, chairwoman of Bakersfield LGBTQ. If someone told her to be quiet, "she'd speak twice as loud for twice as long," Weddell said, affectionately calling her former mentor a "rabble-rouser."
Bailey was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Nov. 25, 1937, the only daughter of Joseph K. Bailey and Dorothy L. Bailey. Growing up with three brothers in an athletic family, she excelled in speed skating, softball and golf.
According to CSUB, Bailey earned a degree at the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1964, followed by a doctorate in physical education at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and a master's in counseling at CSUB.
In 1974, Bailey accepted a position teaching physical education at CSUB, where she lectured full-time until 2003 and, in retirement, until 2008. She served several terms as chair of the university's Department of Physical Education, was active in its Women Studies Minor committee and earned the honorary title of professor emerita.
In her honor, the CTA created a Nancy Bailey Leadership in Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Award, which the union gives to individual members whose activities "have helped to achieve significant equity and equality for the lesbian, gay and bisexual community."
Joanne Schmidt, a former CSUB professor of French, Spanish and gender studies, said Bailey was comfortable marching and holding a picket, and that her courage and friendliness inspired others to join her.
"She was a very amazing person, first to lend a hand," Schmidt said. "She had a positive attitude that was infectious and motivated all who knew her."
Jan Hefner, past-president of the Gay & Lesbian Center of Bakersfield, recalled witnessing Bailey introduce herself as a mayoral candidate to a man who was running for a local school board at the time. She said Bailey immediately identified herself as lesbian, leaving the man speechless.
"It was a kind of forthrightness that most people in those days did not, you know, just didn't have," Hefner said. "With Nancy, it was almost to take it off the table as a point of reference."
"She was really a pioneer for everything we've been able to achieve in the last several years, and this last year in particular."
Schmidt said Bailey, who in recent years made a home in San Francisco, had been suffering from various ailments recently, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Bailey is survived by her domestic partner, Suzan Rollins, and her brothers, Raymond J. "Jim" Bailey of Des Moines, Iowa, and Alan J. "Al" Bailey of Inverness, Fla.
There were no local memorial services, but her friends say a celebration of her life has been scheduled for Aug. 27 at an undisclosed, private residence in Bakersfield.
~ source:
https://www.bakersfield.com/news/csub-professor-helped-pioneer-lgbt-activism-in-bakersfield/article_240c39eb-13a9-5057-8124-e44ab79acab5.html
An outspoken "rabble-rouser" at a time when gay activism was far more rare than it is now, Bailey worked with the late gay activist Francis Serra to organize protests following a four-year prison sentence given to a local businessman found guilty in 1982 of manslaughter in the deaths of his two gay neighbors.
Bailey helped found organizations including the California Teachers Association's Gay and Lesbian Caucus, and was an advisor to CSUB's Gay and Lesbian Alliance. She was also a reproductive rights advocate who received about a quarter of the vote when she ran for mayor of Bakersfield in the mid-1980s.
"She wasn't one to back down from a fight," said Whitney Weddell, chairwoman of Bakersfield LGBTQ. If someone told her to be quiet, "she'd speak twice as loud for twice as long," Weddell said, affectionately calling her former mentor a "rabble-rouser."
Bailey was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Nov. 25, 1937, the only daughter of Joseph K. Bailey and Dorothy L. Bailey. Growing up with three brothers in an athletic family, she excelled in speed skating, softball and golf.
According to CSUB, Bailey earned a degree at the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1964, followed by a doctorate in physical education at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and a master's in counseling at CSUB.
In 1974, Bailey accepted a position teaching physical education at CSUB, where she lectured full-time until 2003 and, in retirement, until 2008. She served several terms as chair of the university's Department of Physical Education, was active in its Women Studies Minor committee and earned the honorary title of professor emerita.
In her honor, the CTA created a Nancy Bailey Leadership in Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Award, which the union gives to individual members whose activities "have helped to achieve significant equity and equality for the lesbian, gay and bisexual community."
Joanne Schmidt, a former CSUB professor of French, Spanish and gender studies, said Bailey was comfortable marching and holding a picket, and that her courage and friendliness inspired others to join her.
"She was a very amazing person, first to lend a hand," Schmidt said. "She had a positive attitude that was infectious and motivated all who knew her."
Jan Hefner, past-president of the Gay & Lesbian Center of Bakersfield, recalled witnessing Bailey introduce herself as a mayoral candidate to a man who was running for a local school board at the time. She said Bailey immediately identified herself as lesbian, leaving the man speechless.
"It was a kind of forthrightness that most people in those days did not, you know, just didn't have," Hefner said. "With Nancy, it was almost to take it off the table as a point of reference."
"She was really a pioneer for everything we've been able to achieve in the last several years, and this last year in particular."
Schmidt said Bailey, who in recent years made a home in San Francisco, had been suffering from various ailments recently, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Bailey is survived by her domestic partner, Suzan Rollins, and her brothers, Raymond J. "Jim" Bailey of Des Moines, Iowa, and Alan J. "Al" Bailey of Inverness, Fla.
There were no local memorial services, but her friends say a celebration of her life has been scheduled for Aug. 27 at an undisclosed, private residence in Bakersfield.
~ source:
https://www.bakersfield.com/news/csub-professor-helped-pioneer-lgbt-activism-in-bakersfield/article_240c39eb-13a9-5057-8124-e44ab79acab5.html
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