The American
Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday
challenging the U.S. Air Force Reserves' discharge of a
decorated major and flight nurse who had been in a
lesbian relationship for several years. Major Margaret
Witt, 42, of Spokane, Wash., was discharged last
month, about a year and a half after the Air Force placed
her on unpaid leave, telling her she could no longer
take part in any military duties.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court in
Seattle, seeks an injunction prohibiting Witt's
discharge and a declaration that doing so would
violate her rights to engage in private activities without
government interference. Witt, most recently a flight
nurse and operating nurse assigned to McChord Air
Force Base near Tacoma, joined the Air Force in 1986,
the ACLU said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
She had been in what the ACLU characterized as
"a committed relationship" with a female civilian from
1997 to 2003. ACLU spokesman Doug Honig said Wednesday
that relationship has since ended.
During her 18-year career, Witt served in the
Persian Gulf and received various honors, including
the Air Force Commendation Medal for saving the life
of a Department of Defense employee who had collapsed aboard
a government-chartered flight from Bahrain.
No officer had been assigned the case, Honig
said. A call to the judge advocate general's office at
McChord was not immediately returned.
The ACLU argued that Witt's absence has harmed
her unit's morale and that it comes at a time when the
Air Force Reserves has a shortage of flight nurses.
"Major Margaret Witt has been an exemplary
member of the military with a distinguished record of
service," said Kathleen Taylor, executive director of
the ACLU's Washington office. "To discharge her simply
because of her sexual orientation is unfair and does not
make our military stronger." (AP)