[Vision2020] Air Force Major Who Won 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' Case to Speak at UI

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of the University of Idaho at:

http://www.uidaho.edu/news/news-articles/news-releases/2017-september/092817-airforcespeaker

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Air Force Major Who Won 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' Case to Speak at UI

She challenged the military’s anti-gay policy – and won.


Maj. Margaret Witt had an exemplary career as a combat nurse with the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves until she was discharged in 2007 under the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The policy prohibited openly gay and lesbian service in the U.S. military. More than 13,000 gay servicemen and women were dishonorably discharged under the policy.
 
In 2010, Witt made history with her successful constitutional challenge to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. After a seven-month battle in federal court, Witt won her case, putting an end to the discriminatory policy. Three months after she was reinstated, Congress repealed the law.
 
Witt, now retired from the military, will discuss the case and her new book, “Tell: Love, Defiance, and the Military Trial at the Tipping Point for Gay Rights,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5 in the University of Idaho College of Law Courtroom. Her presentation will be followed by a book sale and signing hosted by BookPeople of Moscow. 
 
“Maj. Witt's book is first, a love story,” said Steven A. Smith, clinical assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Media, a part of UI’s College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. “It was her love for the woman she would eventually marry that triggered her dismissal from the Air Force. But her story is also a legal procedural as she takes on the military in federal court, and wins. Her case unmasked the hypocrisy behind ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ and was a critical victory in the continuing fight for gay rights.”

Witt’s appearance is sponsored by the UI School of Journalism and Mass Media, the UI Women’s Center, the UI LGBTQA Office, OUTLaw, the Veterans Law Association, UI Military Student Services and the city of Moscow Human Rights Commission.

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Seeya there, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
  
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