After a 35-year campaign, Lisa Weiszmiller has been given an “honorary discharge” by the US Army after she was abused, harassed and ultimately thrown out of the military in 1979. Ms Weiszmiller, 53, is pleased that her records have now been updated to show that she was not “less-than-honorably discharged.”
Back in the late 1970s, her superior officers suspected she was gay and subjected her to interrogations, hard labour and homophobic insults. Ms Weiszmiller, who lives in Oklahoma City, told reporters that, ‘If they [the officers] came upon us, we would have to come to parade rest and they would berate us.’
‘These are queers! These are lesbians! Stay away from these homosexual women . They tried everything they could to break us down.’
Ms Weiszmiller
Now she intends to persuade the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to compensate her for her post-traumatic stress disorder, which is a direct consequence of her humiliation. Since she was discharged, Ms Weiszmiller has also battled with drug addiction.
Approximately 100,000 servicepeople were sacked from the US armed forces between 1941 and 2011. The Obama Administration ended the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that stopped openly LGBT people from joining the military.
One thought on “Humiliated Lesbian Soldier Wins Case Against US Army”
That’s pretty disingenuous way to put that, that the Obama Admin got rid of DADT. He signed the bill, but returned it to congress twice, including after a federal ruling struck it down, when he could’ve ended the policy as Commander In Chief of armed forces. He had the power to get rid of it but instead he defended it repeatedly.
The Log Cabin Republicans were at the forefront of the debate. Obama turned away. He was openly against gay marriage at the time as well, and was until 2012. Dont forget to criticize him because he’s Obama.
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2011/02/26/obama-still-defending-dont-ask-in-court/