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OutServe-SLDN Announces Support for C-Bus of Love
For immediate release:
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Contact: Zeke Stokes at
202-621-5406 or zeke@outserve-sldn.org
C-Bus of Love Headed to Washington DC in June
OutServe-SLDN DOMA plaintiffs set to lead road trip for equality that will bring same-sex couples to the nation’s capital to be married in front of the U.S. Supreme Court
(Columbus, OH) Army Veteran and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson announced today that the organization has become an official sponsor of a bus trip that will bring same-sex couples from across the country to Washington, DC, in June to be married in a jurisdiction where their marriages are legal and recognized. Twenty-five couples - from the states of Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia - will ride the “C-Bus of Love,” traveling from Columbus, OH to our Nation’s capital, where they be making their lifelong commitments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The trip is organized by two plaintiffs in OutServe-SLDN’s landmark court challenge to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, Army Major Stephen Snyder-Hill and his husband, Joshua Snyder-Hill.
“Stephen and I had the great privilege of being married in Washington, DC two years ago after the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal Act was passed by the Congress, and we wanted to be able to give this unique gift to other committed and loving couples from states where the freedom to marry is not yet recognized. We are especially thrilled that we will be able to do it in front of the Supreme Court during the same month in which the Court may very well strike down DOMA once and for all,” said Joshua Snyder-Hill.
The trip, which will begin on Friday, June 21 in Columbus, is fully funded through private donations and will bring the couples to Washington, DC to be married before returning them to Columbus to celebrate that city’s pride weekend. The couples participating represent a combined 189 years of commitment to one another, including one couple that has been together more than 31 years. They range in age from 18 to 61 years old, and nine of the couples include at least one service member or veteran.
“This is a remarkable act of love and commitment on the part of these couples that illustrates just how ridiculous this cobbled-together, two-tiered system of marriage that has developed in our country really is. No committed and loving couple should have to go to these lengths in order to be married to one another, and OutServe-SLDN is proud to stand with them - and indeed ride alongside them - on this journey to full equality,” said OutServe-SLDN’s Robinson.
For more information on the trip, including bios of the participating couples, click here. The wedding of the couples will be streamed live on June 21, 2013 at this page: http://www.cbusoflove.com/
ABOUT OUTSERVE-SLDN: OutServe-SLDN is the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel with more than fifty chapters and 6000 members around the world It works to support a professional network of LGBT military personnel and create an environment of respect in the military with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. It is a non-partisan, non-profit, legal services and policy organization dedicated to bringing about full LGBT equality to America's military and ending all forms of discrimination and harassment of military personnel on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. OS-SLDN provides free and direct legal assistance to service members and veterans affected by the repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law and the prior regulatory ban on open service, as well as those currently serving who may experience harassment or discrimination. For more information, visit www.outserve-sldn.org.
