From the Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry ad. - PHOTO: Screenshot
A gay U.S. soldier who was booed during a Republican presidential debate in 2011 has joined the effort to overturn Ohio's ban on same-sex marriage.
Leaders of the pro-gay-marriage group FreedomOhio said that Columbus resident Stephen Snyder-Hill will help lead outreach efforts.
Last fall, Snyder-Hill appeared in a Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry ad with his husband Josh to highlight the inequities for gay and lesbian servicemembers and their spouses.
Hill, in a segment taped while he was deployed in Iraq, asked the Republican presidential candidates in a 2011 debate about the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell" and whether they would "circumvent the progress that's been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military."
The crowd booed and then applauded Rick Santorum for saying he would reinstated the anti-gay policy.
FreedomOhio wants to overturn the 2004 state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Supporters started collecting signatures last year to place their own constitutional amendment on the ballot by 2014.
The measure wouldn't require churches and other religious institutions to perform or recognize gay marriages.
The amendment banning gay marriage was supported by 62 percent of Ohio voters at the time.
