Stephen Snyder-Hill, the soldier booed at the Republican Presidential primary debate in Florida in 2011 for posing a question about LGBT rights, and his husband Josh announced today they will co-chair the Freedom To Marry Ohio Steering Committee.
“I love my country and I believe this nation is becoming more loving, more tolerant and more accepting. More and more people are coming to understand this is a basic civil rights issue and a human rights issue,” Stephen Snyder-Hill said. “The Freedom to Marry and Religious Freedom Amendment is only 46 words. It would let me marry Josh and at the same respect a religious institution’s freedom to recognize and perform our wedding or not.”
Josh Snyder-Hill said he looks forward to working with Steve on the Steering Committee to engage partners, allies, supporters and volunteers in the effort to collect signatures to place the issue before voters as early as November.
“I don’t think of Steve as a gay soldier. When he puts on his uniform for our country, he is a soldier,” Josh Snyder-Hill said. “If Steve had to spend time in a military hospital, legally I would be recognized as a member of his family. This is wrong, on so many fronts.”
Former Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy, FreedomOhio CEO, thanked Josh and Steve for their commitment to the Freedom To Marry Ohio movement.
The Hill-Snyder announcement follows an endorsement from the American Military Partner Association, a national organization representing partners and spouses of LGBT service members. Earlier this week, Greg Schultz, former Obama For America state director in Ohio, came on board as a FreedomOhio Executive Committee board member.
“We have a great deal of work ahead of us to pass this amendment, but the job is a lot easier when you are surrounded by a growing circle of friends and supporters,” Kilroy said.
