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Steve May
(1972 - living) U.S.A.

Steve May

Republican state representative from Arizona

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Steve, born in Phoenix, Arizona, was raised in what he calls a traditional Mormon household. He's one of five children. He attended Arcadia high school. He spent one year as a Congress-Bundestag exchange student in then West Germany from 1987-1988.

He came out to his parents when he was 18 and was about to embark on his Mormon mission. "I had a choice whether to sacrifice my integrity and deny the feelings that I had inside, what I knew to be true, and tell it to my parents and my church. Or go on a mission proselytizing to other people something I didn't believe in." He chose to come out. "My parents had a hard time with it then and they still do."

He studied for a semester in Nigeria in 1991 where he wrote a thesis on political leadership and the transition from military dictatorship to democratic rule. Steve was educated at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles where he earned his BA in Psychology and Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) in 1993. His senior thesis, titled "Heavy Mettle: The effects of confidence and optimism in leader performance" was the basis for the paper he published with two colleagues in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, March 2000.

Steve served in the US Army's First Infantry Division from 1993-1995 as a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Officer after graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate through ROTC. Before leaving active duty as a first lieutenant he served as an infantry assistant battalion operations officer, chemical smoke platoon leader and chemical company executive officer. He is one of very few qualified as a nuclear submariner and paratrooper. Steve was honorably discharged in 1995, but was recalled to the US Army Reserve in February 1999. He served as the executive officer of a fuel transportation company.

On July of 1999 the US Army began proceedings against Lieutenant May under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law that forbids military members from disclosing their homosexuality. Though his sexual orientation had been public record and widely reported in the media since 1996, the Army ordered him into reserve service and then tried to discharge him. Steve fought the attempted discharge for two years until the Secretary of the Army unexpectedly intervened and allowed him to complete the tour of duty to which he was called. Steve's case highlighted the lunacy of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. He got an honorable discharge in 2001.

Steve was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in November 1998 and re-elected in November 2000. He is well known for his advocacy of limited government, equitable taxation, the right to privacy, public education, property rights and civil rights.

He has no "gay agenda" and has gone on record opposing same-sex marriages (he said he believes in protections for longtime same-sex relationships but that the way to establish those protections is not to change the institution of marriage) and also has opposed a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Steve is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wisdom Herbs, manufacturers and marketers of Wisdom of the Ancients® Herbal Teas, Instant WisdomTM Instant Tea and SweetLeaf® brand Stevia supplements. Wisdom Herbs® was founded by his father, Jim, in 1982 and is owned by Steve and Jim. The company has 25 full time employees in the United States and Paraguay and sells products in about 7000 natural food and grocery stores throughout the country.

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