Friday, September 16, 2011

DADT Repeal Countdown: Day 4

Michael passed along this historical curio this morning, a newspaper clip reporting on Leonard Matlovich's court case.  When Leonard came out, he sued the government for a wrongful discharge, and though he ultimately was not successful, his court case laid the groundwork for the ensuing decades of struggle for LGBT equality in the military.

Michael adds:
On September 16th, 1975, the Administrative Discharge Board Hearing for TSgt. Leonard Matlovich resulting from his having purposely outed himself that March began at Langley Air Force Base. Two "prosecution" witnesses upset the hearing when they said they'd eagerly work with him again and two board members were dismissed after saying the prosecutor was doing a bad job.
It's odd the parallels that military LGBT people are facing today in the court-- Dan Choi's recent ongoing criminal trial related to our arrest in November also includes farcical elements, to include a prosecutor refusing to use Dan's rank and referring to him as "Mister Choi" in order to denigrate the defendant.  Will such selective treatment of gay servicemembers end in four days?  Only time will tell.

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