May was born on November 29, 1971,[1] and grew up in a Mormon household in Phoenix, Arizona, in the district he later represented in the state legislature.
[6] 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.
[7] He returned to duty in April and in May a local magazine reported on him under the headline "Gay Right Wing Mormon Steve May is a Walking Talking Contradiction".
[2][10] 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May served as the chairman of the House Ways and Means committee and was instrumental in getting Arizona's sodomy law repealed.
[12] In 2002, May lost his bid for re-election facing two fellow incumbents who were set to run against each other following redistricting pursuant to the 2000 United States Census, by 58 votes.
[18][19] District court judge David G. Campbell denied a request from the state Green Party to remove the candidates from the ballot.
[20] Following the revelation of a 2009 guilty plea to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, for which May served ten days in jail and received three years of probation,[21] May dropped out of the race.