LGBTQ+ Veterans Advance Lawsuit Over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (1)

The US Defense Department must defend a lawsuit by LGBTQ+ military veterans who say their discharges under the agency’s one-time “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy should be systematically upgraded to end its lingering discriminatory effects.

The US District Court for the Northern District of California was unpersuaded by the government’s contention that the proposed class action didn’t adequately plead claims under the US Constitution’s equal protection clause because there are no allegations of discriminatory intent and the claims are based on government inaction, a theory that courts have rejected.

The suit arises from a memorandum the department issued as part ...