Days After ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Ruling, Another Challenge Heads to Court

[ruggerson]

For 17 years, Maj. Margaret Witt rose steadily through the Air Force and Air Force Reserves, winning plaudits from colleagues, strong performance reviews from superiors and service medals from the department. A flight nurse, she treated wounded troops during Desert Storm and was featured in Air Force promotional materials for years.

Major Witt is also a lesbian.

To hide her sexual orientation, she skipped military functions where dates were invited. She dodged questions about her personal life. And she avoided inviting colleagues home, lest some possession — a book, a photograph — might tip them off.

“You can’t be honest,” Major Witt, 46, said in a recent interview. “I didn’t want to answer questions, even to say what my weekend plans were.”

Her efforts to maintain a low profile ended in 2004, when the jilted husband of a woman Major Witt had started to date sent a note to the Air Force disclosing her orientation. After an investigation and hearing, the Air Force discharged her in 2007 under the policy known as “don’t ask don't tell."

But her case is far from over. Major Witt sued, and, in what will be one of the most closely watched challenges to the law to date, she is scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma, Wash., on Monday to argue that the Air Force violated her rights and must reinstate her. The court appearance comes at a time of growing debate about the policy. On Thursday, a federal judge in California ruled that the don’t ask, don’t tell policy was unconstitutional.

Major Witt’s case has already set an important precedent. After a federal judge dismissed her lawsuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinstated it, ruling in 2008 that the government had to meet a higher standard of scrutiny before intruding on her private life. The panel sent her case back to the district court for trial.

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Let's hope this is moot before the Court even renders a decision.