National
Lawsuit challenges ‘Don’t Ask’ separation pay
ACLU files class-action litigation
Mike Almy, a former Air Force officer, is among those who received half separation pay as a result of his discharge under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." (Blade photo by Michael Key)
A new lawsuit filed over the halved separation pay given to some U.S. service members discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is raising questions about why the Defense Department hasn’t taken action to resolve the issue.
Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims over administration policy cutting in half the severance pay that discharged troops who serve for at least six years in the armed forces would normally receive if they were separated for a reason other than homosexual conduct.
The policy was implemented in 1991, two years before Congress enacted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” statute, and could be changed by implementing new regulations without action from lawmakers or the courts.
Joshua Block, staff attorney for the ACLU’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender project, said his organization filed the class action lawsuit, known as Collins v. United States, as a result of this severance pay inequity.
“Basically, if you’re discharged under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ [and serve for at least six years], under the policy there’s virtually no way you can qualify for full separation pay,” Block said.
The issue only affects service members separated under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” who received honorable discharges and who have served for at least six years because only under those conditions do troops qualify for severance pay.
Further, because of the statute of limitations, the lawsuit would only affect service members who’ve been discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” within the last six years.
Block said the litigation was brought on behalf of all service members involuntarily discharged in the past six years and estimated that at least 100 discharged service members will qualify as part of the class of plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The lead plaintiff in the litigation is Richard Collins, a former staff sergeant who was in the Air Force for nine years before he was discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“After nine years of honorable service, it’s not fair that I should be deprived of the same benefits given to other dedicated service members who are adjusting to civilian life,” Collins said in a statement.
Another discharged service member who was affected by the pay inequity is Mike Almy, a gay former Air Force communications officer who testified earlier this year before the Senate about being discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2006.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Almy said. “It’s pouring salt on the wound. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is horrendous enough as it is already. And then, when gays are thrown out the door, they’re even discriminated against once again in the severance pay that they receive.”
Almy said he received separation pay of $40,000 upon his discharge from the Air Force when he would otherwise have been entitled to $80,000.
The lawsuit was filed after the ACLU engaged with the Defense Department in November 2009 to change the policy in efforts that were ultimately unsuccessful. Correspondence had continued until as recently as August, when the ACLU threatened to sue the Pentagon over the lack of action.
Block said he’s hopeful the Pentagon would drop the policy as a result of the lawsuit and pay discharged troops they compensation they would normally receive.
“From our perspective, the litigation shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place, so we obviously hope that the government will do the right thing and pay these people the separation pay that they earned,” he said.
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said SLDN and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force identified the issue more than a year ago as something that the administration could resolve with a policy change.
“In this case, [Defense] Secretary [Robert] Gates has the authority to stop this practice, and he should,” Sarvis said. “Not only should they stop it, we’ll also be seeking — as we have in the past — restitution on their back pay.”
Although the lawsuit has been filed, Sarvis noted “litigation is always protracted” and said the lawsuit could take years to resolve. Consequently, Sarvis said SLDN plans to continue pressing Gates to change the policy administratively and was set this week to meet with Pentagon officials to discuss the matter.
But why does the adminstration continue the policy when President Obama has said he wants to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the issue could be resolved with a stroke of a pen?
Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement that department policy authorizes half separation payments to members who are “not fully qualified to continue to serve” and who are being involuntarily separated under honorable conditions.
“Currently, members being discharged for [‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’] … receive half separation pay, because the law says they are not qualified to continue in service,” she added.
Almy said he has “no idea” why the Pentagon continues this policy and said the rationale for upholding the policy is similarly unknown to others.
“From the personnel people that I’ve been able to talk to at the Pentagon, no one really knows what the reason for that was,” Almy said.
Block also said he’s unsure why the adminstration hasn’t changed this policy as he noted the administration has a stated goal of wanting to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” through legislative action.
“They have to get that through Congress, and we understand they’re working on that, but this was a regulation that was passed before ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ even came into existence,” Block said. “The administration can get rid of it anytime it wants without needing congressional approval to do so.”
Federal Government
Protesters say SAVE Act targets voters, transgender youth
Bill described as ‘Jim Crow 2.0’
Members of Congress, advocates, and people from across the country gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to protest proposed federal legislation that voting rights activists have deemed “Jim Crow 2.0.”
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require in-person proof of citizenship for anyone seeking to vote in U.S. elections.
President Donald Trump has also pushed for the proposed legislation to include a section that would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even with parental consent, and prohibit trans people from participating in school or professional sports consistent with their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth.
In addition to changing voter registration requirements, the bill would limit acceptable forms of identification to documents such as a birth certificate or passport — records that the Brennan Center for Justice estimates more than 21 million Americans do not have — effectively restricting access to the ballot. It would also ban online voter registration, DMV voter registration efforts, and mail-in voter registration.
A 2021 investigation by the Associated Press found that fewer than 475 people voted illegally or improperly, a tiny fraction of the estimated 160 million Americans who voted in the 2020 election.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke at the event.
“It will kick millions of American citizens off the rolls. And they don’t even require you to be told,” the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate told protesters and reporters outside the Capitol. “If this law passes — and it won’t — you’re gonna show up in November … and they’ll say… sorry, you’re no longer on the voting rolls.”
He, like many other speakers, emphasized the bill in the context of American history, pointing to what he described as its racist roots and its impact on Black and brown Americans.
“I have called this act, over and over again, Jim Crow 2.0 … because they know it’s the truth.”
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was one of the lawmakers leading opposition to the legislation and spoke at the rally.
“It’s not just voting rights that are on the line — our democracy is on the line,” the California lawmaker said. “It’s not a voter I.D. bill. It’s a bait and switch bill.”
He added historical context, noting the significance of voting rights legislation passed more than 60 years ago. In 1965, Alabama civil rights activists marched to protest barriers to voter registration. Alabama state troopers violently attacked peaceful demonstrators at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, using tear gas, clubs, and whips against more than 500 — mostly Black — protesters.
“61 years ago — not to the day — but this week, President Lyndon Johnson came to the Capitol and addressed a joint session of Congress in the wake of Bloody Sunday and pushed Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act,” Padilla said. “61 years later, Donald Trump and this Republican majority wants to take us backwards. We’re not gonna let that happen.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) also spoke, emphasizing that he views the effort as a Republican-led and Trump-backed attempt to restrict voting access, particularly among Black, brown, and predominantly Democratic communities.
“President Trump told Republicans when they were meeting behind closed doors that ‘The SAVE Act will guarantee Republicans win the midterms and ensure they do not lose an election for 50 years,’” Luján said. “The first time I think Donald Trump’s been honest … This voter suppression bill is only that. Taking away vote by mail? I hope my Republican colleagues from states that voted for Donald Trump or where vote by mail is popular have the courage and the backbone to stand up and say no to this nonsense, because their constituents are going to push back.”
U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) also spoke.
“Our Republican colleagues have already cut Medicaid, Medicare, people don’t know how they’re gonna be able to afford energy,” she said, providing context for the broader political moment. “We’re in the middle of a war that they can’t even get straight while we’re in it and don’t have a way to get out of it. And we are now faced with defending our democracy?”
She then showed the crowd something that she said has been with her throughout her political journey in Washington.
“I brought with me something that I carried on the day that I was sworn into the House of Representatives when I was elected in 2016, and I carried it with me on the day that I was sworn in as United States senator. And I also carried it with me when I was trapped up in the gallery on Jan. 6 and all I could think to do was pray … This document allowed my great great great grandfather, who had been enslaved in Georgia, to have the right to vote. We took this and turned it into a scarf. It is the returns of qualified voters and reconstruction code from 1867. This is my proof of what we’ve been through. This is also our inspiration.”
“I got to travel between the Edmund Pettus Bridge two times. And even as I thought about this moment, I recognized that while we wish we weren’t in it, while we don’t know why we’re in it, I do know we were made for it … So I came today to tell you that, um, just like the leader said, that he calls it Jim Crow 2.0. I call it Jim Crow 2.NO.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the U.S., also spoke, highlighting the impact of the bill’s proposed provisions affecting trans people.
“This bill is not about saving America. This bill is about stealing an election. This bill is about suppressing voters,” Robinson said. “This bill not only tries to disenfranchise voters that deserve their right to vote, it also tries to criminalize trans kids and their families … It tries to criminalize doctors providing medically necessary care for our trans youth.”
The SAVE Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 11 but has not yet been considered in the U.S. Senate.
Idaho
Idaho advances bill to restrict bathroom access for transgender residents
HB 752 passed in state House of Representatives on Monday
The Idaho House of Representatives passed House Bill 752 on Monday, a measure that would make it a crime for a person to use a bathroom other than the one designated for their “biological sex.”
The story was first reported by the Idaho Capitol Sun after the bill cleared the House.
House Bill 752 would make it a criminal offense — either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the number of prior offenses — for individuals who “knowingly and willfully” enter a bathroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex.
The bill would apply to public buildings, including government-owned spaces, and places of “public accommodation,” a category that includes private businesses.
According to the bill’s text, it would “prohibit a person from entering a restroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex; provide a penalty; provide exceptions; define terms; and declare an emergency and provide an effective date.”
A first offense would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison. A second or subsequent offense within five years would be a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
The bill passed in a 54–15 vote on Monday. Six Republicans broke with their party’s majority to join nine Democrats in opposing the measure.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Cornel Rasor, a Republican from Sagle near the Washington-Idaho border, told House lawmakers that the legislation is intended to protect women and girls.
“It prevents discomfort and voyeurism escalation and assaults, while preserving single-user options and narrow exceptions so no one is denied access for emergency aid,” Rasor said.
State Rep. Chris Mathias, a Democrat from Boise, disagreed, arguing that the legislation would unfairly target transgender Idahoans.
“The truth of the matter is — and I know a lot of people don’t want to say it — but forcing people who don’t look like the sex they were assigned at birth, or transgender folks, to use other people’s bathrooms is going to put a lot of people in danger,” Mathias said.
The Idaho American Civil Liberties Union made a statement about the bill following its passage.
“Idaho lawmakers continue pushing these harmful, invasive bathroom laws, yet cannot present credible evidence that transgender people using gender-aligned bathrooms threaten public safety,” the Idaho ACLU said. “The bill does nothing to address real criminal acts, such as sexual assault or voyeurism, and disregards concerns from law enforcement about the burden enforcement would place on local resources.”
In addition to human rights advocates, who have spoken out against similar bills advancing in state legislatures across the country, Idaho law enforcement groups have also opposed the measure. They argue that the way the legislation is written would “pose significant practical enforcement challenges,” noting that officers are tasked with maintaining public safety — not conducting gender checks or policing bathroom access.
During a committee hearing last week, law enforcement representatives and several trans Idahoans testified that the bill would make many residents less safe.
“Officers responding to a complaint would be placed in the difficult position of determining an individual’s biological sex in order to enforce the statute,” Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell wrote. “In many circumstances, there is no clear or reasonable way for officers to make that determination without engaging in questioning or investigative actions that could be viewed as invasive and inappropriate.”
The Idaho Sheriffs’ Association requested that lawmakers amend the bill to require that individuals be given an opportunity to leave a bathroom immediately before facing potential prosecution.
The bill now heads to the Idaho Senate for consideration. To become law, it must pass both chambers and avoid a veto from the governor.
A separate bathroom bill, House Bill 607, which would be enforced through civil lawsuits, passed the House last month but has not yet received a committee hearing in the Senate.
State Department
Report: US to withhold HIV aid to Zambia unless mineral access expanded
New York Times obtained Secretary of State Marco Rubio memo
The State Department is reportedly considering withholding assistance for Zambians with HIV unless the country’s government allows the U.S. to access more of its minerals.
The New York Times on Monday reported Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a memo to State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs staffers wrote the U.S. “will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale.” The newspaper said it obtained a copy of the letter.
Zambia is a country in southern Africa that borders Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Times notes upwards of 1.3 million Zambians receive daily HIV medications through PEPFAR. The newspaper reported Rubio in his memo said the Trump-Vance administration could “significantly cut assistance” as soon as May.
“Reports of (the) State Department withholding lifesaving HIV treatment in return for mining concessions in Zambia does not make us safer, stronger, or more prosperous,” said U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Tuesday. “Monetizing innocent people’s lives further undermines U.S. global leadership and is just plain wrong.”
The Washington Blade has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Zambia received breakthrough HIV prevention drug through PEPFAR
Rubio on Jan. 28, 2025, issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during a freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world with whom the Blade has spoken say PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, has severely impacted their work.
The State Department last September announced PEPFAR will distribute lenacapavir in countries with high prevalence rates. Zambia two months later received the first doses of the breakthrough HIV prevention drug.
Kenya and Uganda are among the African countries have signed health agreements with the U.S. since the Trump-Vance administration took office.
The Times notes the countries that signed these agreements pledged to increase health spending. The Blade last month reported LGBTQ rights groups have questioned whether these agreements will lead to further exclusion and government-sanctioned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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