In 1991, two years before Congress passed “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the Defense Department put together a list of conditions that trigger an automatic reduction in the separation pay doled out to soldiers and sailors that had served six years but were involuntarily discharged. One of those conditions was “homosexuality, or homosexual conduct,” meaning guys like former Air Force Staff Sergeant Richard Collins got $12,351 instead of the expected $25,702 when he went over to civilian life in 2006.
That doesn’t seem especially fair, so the ACLU is suing the government on Collins’s behalf. If the suit is granted class-action status, Collins could be joined by 100 to 150 other people who were hit with the same penalty.
ACLU challenging half-pay for discharged gays [AP via Google]
