TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A decorated Air Force flight nurse discharged for being gay has taken the witness stand at federal court in Tacoma.
Former Maj. Margaret Witt is suing the Air Force in hopes of being reinstated. She began her testimony Monday discussing her family’s military history, including service by her father and uncle, and spoke of how she decided to join the Air Force.
Witt’s case has already prompted one landmark ruling, in which an appeals court panel held that the military can’t dismiss someone for being gay unless it shows that the firing was necessary to further military goals.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton is now weighing whether Witt’s firing met that standard. He heard from several other witnesses last week. They told him they didn’t care about Witt’s sexual orientation — they only cared that she was good at her job.
Lawyers for the Air Force say the firing was justified.
