TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A decorated Air Force flight nurse discharged for being gay is expected to take the witness stand at federal court in Tacoma.
Former Maj. Margaret Witt is suing the Air Force in hopes of being reinstated. The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington says she will take the stand on Monday before her lawyers rest their case.
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 firing furthered 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.
