Stephen Hill Refuses To Lie About Name Change
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | June 23, 2012
Stephen Hill and his husband Joshua Snyder are fighting for the right to change their names to Snyder-Hill after being told they could not under Ohio law.
Hill made headlines last year during a Republican presidential debate when he submitted a YouTube video question answered by then-candidate Rick Santorum.
“Do you intend to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?” Hill asked, referring to the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the military policy that banned gay and bisexual troops from serving openly.
Hill's video question was booed by the audience, who were clearly delighted when Santorum said DADT repeal was a “tragic social experiment” and that he would work to reinstate the policy, if elected president.
Hill and Snyder, who married last year in Washington D.C. but live in Columbus, were pulled aside when they submitted their application to hyphenate their last names together.
Appearing on cabler Current TV's The War Room, Hill said the couple were told to lie about the reason for the name change.
“If you had gone in there and said that you wanted to combine your names and change your names because you belong to a hip-hop group and that's how you wanted to brand yourselves and lied, that would have been fine. But because you told the truth and said that you were married you may be denied,” guest host John Fugelsang said.
“That's correct,” Hill said. “When the magistrate pulled us in there, she said that you can put any other reason on this application. … I'm not going to lie. That's one thing I have told myself since 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' was repealed. The Army accepts me. I'm not going to lie to anybody else.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)
After a short hearing, a judge said he would mail the couple his decision. The couple said they would file an appeal if denied.