WATCH: Oklahoma's First Marriage Equality Ad

A retired U.S. Army colonel explains why he supports the freedom to marry in a new video airing on TV stations statewide in Oklahoma.

Sunnivie Brydum

Sunnivie is the managing editor of The Advocate, and an award-winning journalist whose passion is covering the politics of equality and elevating the unheard stories of our community. Originally from Colorado, she and her spouse now live in Los Angeles, along with their three fur-children: dogs Luna and Cassie Doodle, and "Meow Button" Tilly.

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Sunnivie Brydum

May 05 2014 1:47 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Retired U.S. Army Colonel Ed Cuyler supports marriage equality for a very personal reason -- because he wants the same rights he and his wife have enjoyed for 36 years to be extended to his daughter Deedra, her wife, Amber, and his three grandchildren.

In a new 30-second ad airing throughout Oklahoma, the Lawton-based family expands on the traditional talking point of "family values," explaining that those fundamental principles should extend to all loving and committed couples in Oklahoma.

"As a veteran, I know freedom means freedom for everyone," says Cuyler, a Purple Heart recipient who served more than three decades in the Army and Army Reserves. "And no family should be denied a basic freedom."

The multigenerational family resides on a 17-acre ranch in the rural town of Lawton, about two hours outside Oklahoma City. Deedra and Amber are lifelong Oklahoma residents who married in Massachusetts and are hoping the state will recognize their relationship and provide equal protection to their family, which includes three young children, notes Freedom to Marry.

In January a federal judge struck down Oklahoma's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage but placed a hold on his ruling pending the state's appeal. Last month attorneys for the state and two same-sex couples who filed suit argued their case before a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. A decision in that case is expected later this year.