You could say Janelle Rettig came into the world lobbying.

Even as a young child, she worked on  campaigns.

She helped residents of Dallas City, Ill., get elected to office and lobbied for a part-time English teacher not to be cut from her high school.

After graduating from college, she went to work for Congressman Jim Leach.

Though Rettig had always been open about her sexual orientation, she chose not to lobby for LGBT rights while she worked for Leach.

At the time, she thought the visibility would take away from her responsibilities.

When she left the office in 1995, she began openly lobbying for LGBT rights.

“I guess you get that calling, ‘If not now when?’” Rettig said. “If I wasn’t going to do it, then I didn’t have any right to say someone else should.”

In 2002, when her partner, Robin Butler, began radiation treatments for breast cancer, Rettig’s fight intensified, especially for marriage.

“You realize the power of marriage, about creating a record that you were more than friends,” she said. “It became much more a passion.”

Luckily, Butler’s cancer is now in remission.

But Rettig’s passion hasn’t lessened.

She continues to lobby for LGBT rights, specifically marriage equality.

Rettig averages 20 to 30 hours a week, e-mailing, phoning and talking to legislators about LGBT rights.

“I just consider it my paying back the generations that came before me that has made it possible for me to even be out,” she said.

— Deanna Truman-Cook

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