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Vendaval -> RE: Republicans block bill to lift military gay ban (9/24/2010 4:00:15 PM)
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Fast Reply - A recent development on this issue. What is really interesting is that this case was appealed and the judge changed his mind from his 2006 ruling.
Judge orders lesbian Air Force nurse reinstated
From Bill Mears,
CNNSeptember 24, 2010 6:04 p.m. EDT
"(CNN) -- A federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of an openly lesbian former Air Force major who was dismissed from the military under the government's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
Judge Ronald Leighton of Tacoma, Washington, made his ruling Friday. It is the latest legal and political setback for the Obama administration, which is seeking to end the policy through a legislative and executive solution.
Maj. Margaret Witt, a decorated flight nurse with 20 years of service, had sued to return to the Air Force Reserve. She was honorably discharged in July 2007 on the grounds that she had a six-year relationship with another woman, a civilian.
"Her discharge from the Air Force Reserves violated her substantive due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. She should be restored to her position as a flight nurse with the 446th AES as soon as is practicable," wrote the judge.
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy enacted in 1993 prevents gay men and lesbians from openly serving in the military and bars officials from inquiring into a service member's sexuality.
The Senate this week temporarily turned aside legislation to repeal the law.
Witt joined the Air Force in 1987 and was suspended in 2004, after her superiors discovered her personal relationship with the civilian woman. At the time, she worked for an air-medical transport unit that evacuated and treated wounded soldiers.
She was described in employee reports and by trial witnesses as an "exemplary officer" who was an effective leader, caring mentor, and skilled clinician. She had hid her homosexuality for years.
The judge found no compelling reason for her dismissal."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/24/military.gay.reinstatement/index.html?hpt=T2
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