Maj. Margaret “Margie” Witt is a decorated, 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force who made history in 2010 with her successful constitutional challenge to the law known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT), which prohibited gays and lesbians from openly serving in the U.S. military.
In her Air Force career, Witt logged nearly 2,000 hours as a flight nurse before being suspended from duty in 2004 and ultimately discharged under the Pentagon’s DADT policy upon being outed. After prevailing at trial, she reached a settlement agreement and retired from the Air Force.
She continues to speak out about challenging DADT and her campaign for equal rights and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. Witt has since detailed this story in her book — titled Tell: Love, Defiance, and the Military Trial at the Tipping Point for Gay Rights — and spoke at PLU as the 2017 Meant to Live lecturer.
