Lesbian Flight Nurse Fights for Reinstatement to Air Force

Just under a year before she would have secured a full retirement pension for her highly decorated Air Force career, which included an Air Force Commendation Medal for saving the life of a Department of Defense worker, Major Margaret Witt saw her career ended over the part of her that wasn't strictly according to the military way.

She just happened to be in a relationship with a woman.

During a time of war, the Air Force discharged a valuable and adept flight nurse, someone whose job was in high demand and much needed, because of her sexual orientation. Her sexual orientation wasn't affecting her job, or her unit's cohesion, or any of the glowing performance evaluations she was receiving during her career. In fact, nothing was going against the grain until a civilian reported her for homosexual conduct to the Air Force Chief of Staff. She was investigated and discharged on the word of a civilian third party.

Then, her unit's cohesion was upset, and military readiness was disturbed, by the loss of this talented flight nurse, airmen, and competent servicewoman, whose place in the military would have to be replaced with a new body trained with tax dollars. The discriminatory Don't Ask Don't Tell policy also come down harder on women, who are more likely to be discharged -- gay or not.

Witt, whose discharge eventually set what would come to be known as the "Witt Standard" for proving that an LGBT servicemember would harm military readiness unless discharged, is seeking reinstatement to the Air Force in a closely watched trial in a suit filed by the ACLU. They are hoping to prove that Witt's unit was harmed more by her absence than by her presence, that her sexual orientation was never a factor in her service, let alone a detriment.

The simple act of having a private, sexual relationship with a person of the same sex can not be considered a crime, according to a finding under Lawrence v. Texas. In Lawrence, Justice Kennedy argued that "this right is protected under the word "liberty" in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." It has long been held that "don't ask, don't tell, don't follow, don't pursue" as a policy violates servicemembers' liberty in the same way.

As of yet, it seems that the military has yet to produce any evidence that Witt's sexual conduct interfered in any way with her military performance. It does appear, however, that her former colleagues have submitted declarations to just the opposite, which as the ACLU blog notes, "turn[s] the twisted logic of DADT on its bigoted head."

Photo Credit: Franco Folini