Steve May (born c. 1972) is a former politician from Arizona, where he served in the Arizona House of Representatives. He was openly gay when he ran for and served in the legislature. He was nevertheless recalled to active duty in the military. He came to national attention in 1999 when the U.S. Army attempted to discharge him from the United States Army Reserve under the gay-exclusionary law known as "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT).May was born around 1972 and grew up in a Mormon household in Phoenix, Arizona, in the district he later represented in the state legislature. He was an Eagle Scout. He entered the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1989 at the age of 17 at Claremont McKenna College and received his commission as an U.S. Army officer in 1993. He served for two and a half years at Fort Riley, Kansas. His assignments included managing the integration of women into an all-male platoon. He left the Army with an honorable discharge in 1995. May ran unsuccessfully for the House in 1996 before winning a seat in 1998, as a Republican. He ran as an openly gay man and had secured the endorsement of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a political action committee dedicated to helping elect openly LGBT candidates to public office. He and his family have engaged in protracted lawsuits about their competing business interests.On February 3, 1999, May spoke to a committee of the Arizona House about pending legislation that would prevent local jurisdictions from providing benefits to the domestic partners of their employees. He said:I know many of you expected me to sit quietly in my office, but I cannot sit quietly in my office when another member attacks my family and attempts to steal my freedom. And furthermore if this legislature intends to take my gay tax dollars, which work just as well as your straight tax dollars, then treat me fairly under the law.A few weeks later, as the Kosovo crisis was developing, he was recalled by the Army Reserves, where he attained the rank of First Lieutenant. He returned to duty in April and in May a local magazine reported on him under the headline "Gay Ring Wing Mormon Steve May is a Walking Talking Contradiction". In July the Army notified him that he was under investigation for homosexuality. An Army spokesman commented in August: "I don't think that the individual has been, shall we say, keeping this under wraps, as to his sexual orientation." In March 2000, the Army asked him to resign and he refused. On September 17, 2000, an Army panel recommended May be given an honorable discharge under DADT. May fought to remain in service and in January 2001 the Army terminated its discharge proceedings. May received an honorable discharge in May 2001 at the scheduled conclusion of his term of service.During his time in office, May served as the chairman of the House Ways and Means committee and was instrumental in getting Arizona's sodomy law repealed. In June 2000, May filed suit against the state of Arizo
$1.2 Million
