In this June 30, 2006 file photo shows U.S. Air Force Reservist Maj. Margaret Witt after a hearing of a case challenging her dismissal from the Air Force for being a lesbian in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Wash. A pressing legal reality for the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ standard for gays serving in the military is that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already struck down the way it’s practiced in much of the Western United States. The 2008 ruling, while largely overlooked, would force the military to apply a much higher threshold in determining whether a service member should be dismissed for being gay. (AP Photo/John Froschauer, File)