Gay & bi veterans score a win in court as judge rejects DOD’s attempt to dismiss case

June’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride month celebrations are relatively new to the Department of Defense and to the Air Commandos of Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., but the history of LGBT service members’ fight to openly serve in the armed forces is a long and proud one.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

LGBTQ+ veterans who were discharged from the military due to their sexuality got a win this week when a judge denied the Department of Defense’s motion to dismiss the case.

The lawsuit represents gay and bi veterans who were discharged because of rules like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell that barred them from serving in the military. The federal complaint, which was filed last year, said that 35,081 veterans were discharged or otherwise separated from the military “because of real or perceived homosexuality, homosexual conduct, sexual perversion or any other related reason” from 1980 to 2011.

Four out of the five plaintiffs, like most gay veterans who are discharged, received less-than-honorable discharges. The lawsuit is seeking to…

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