100+ Years Fighting for Veterans, Servicemembers, and their Families

Following the passage of the Selective Service Act of 1917, which established the draft, Roger Nash Baldwin — then head of the National Civil Liberties Bureau, the predecessor organization to the ACLU — called for legal protections for conscientious objectors and proposed the establishment of noncombatant service alternatives for those whose moral or religious beliefs prevented them from participating in armed conflict.

The ACLU represented Winfred Lynn, a Black landscape gardener who contested the segregated draft during World War II. When Lynn received his draft notice in 1942, he defiantly responded that he was “ready to serve in any unit of the armed forces of my country which is not segregated by race.” The ACLU took up his case and challenged the racially segregated draft in World War II. While the lawsuit itself ultimately failed, the controversy surrounding it highlighted the hypocrisy of segregating the armed forces of a country espousing ideals of equality during its fight against the Nazis. This case helped lay the groundwork for President Truman's July 26, 1948, executive order ending racial segregation in the military.

The ACLU served on the legal team representing Leonard Matlovich, a decorated Air Force sergeant who made national headlines when he declared in a letter to the Secretary of the Air Force that his “sexual preferences are homosexual.” At his discharge hearing, we argued that his ability to serve had not been compromised by his sexual orientation, but he was nevertheless found unfit for service.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a founding director of the ACLU's Women’s Rights Project, took on the case of Captain Susan Struck, a pregnant Air Force officer stationed in Vietnam. Struck sued after the Air Force gave her an ultimatum: Have an abortion or be discharged. The ACLU argued that discriminating against a woman based on pregnancy constituted sex discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. The case forced the Air Force to change its policy. In 1974 the Department of Defense issued a directive making separations for pregnancy voluntary.

The ACLU filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case involving Sharron Frontiero, an Air Force lieutenant barred from claiming her husband as a dependent to obtain increased allowances and benefits. We argued that the Air Force policy – by which only servicewomen had to prove their spouses relied on them for financial support – violated the Equal Protection Clause, and the Supreme Court agreed.

We challenged a federal statute that barred women from serving aboard naval ships. The court found the prohibition unconstitutional, holding that it violated the equal protection guarantee. After this ruling Congress amended the statute in 1978 to permit women to be assigned to duty on ships, but continued to restrict their service on vessels engaged in combat missions.

The ACLU filed a complaint in federal court challenging the Army’s unequal enlistment standards. At the time, women were required to have a high school diploma and score at least 50 on a qualification test, while men could enlist without a diploma and with a score as low as 19. In 1979, following our complaint, the Army announced that it would equalize entry requirements for men and women.

We represented Shannon Faulkner, a high school student denied admission to The Citadel, a state-supported, men-only military college in South Carolina, solely because of her gender. In a significant victory, the Fourth Circuit ruled that The Citadel’s refusal to admit women violated the Equal Protection Clause, requiring the institution to either admit Faulkner or create an equivalent alternative for women.

In Able v. United States, we represented six servicemembers challenging the discriminatory policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), which banned openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual troops from serving in the military. Although the challenge was ultimately unsuccessful in court, the case helped elevate national attention for the deep personal and professional toll the policy had on lesbian, gay, and bisexual members of the armed forces.

We advocated alongside women in the military, medical professionals, and women’s health advocates for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to ensure that emergency contraception would be available at all military health facilities. The Department of Defense (DoD) finally changed its policy in 2010.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of Major Margaret Witt, a decorated Air Force nurse who was suspended because of her relationship with a woman. In a major decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Air Force could not justify Major Witt’s dismissal simply by citing DADT, raising the legal bar for the government and helping erode the foundation of DADT.

We secured a significant settlement with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) allowing Wiccan symbols to be displayed on the headstones of deceased veterans — an important affirmation of religious liberty for minority faiths.

The ACLU and the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) sued the DoD and the VA for failing to promptly release records relating to military sexual trauma (MST) under the Freedom of Information Act. As a result of documents obtained through a settlement in this case, we issued a report shedding light on the continuing harm of MST on women veterans.

We urged Congress to enact legislation repealing DADT, ending an 18-year policy that forced gay, lesbian, and bisexual servicemembers to serve in silence or risk losing their careers.

In Rosebrock v. Beiter, the ACLU brought a case on behalf of a Vietnam War veteran who displayed American flags upside down to protest the VA’s failure to use its property for the benefit of veterans. We argued that the VA violated the First Amendment by selectively enforcing a regulation prohibiting the posting of materials on its property, and the VA eventually committed to consistently enforce the regulation.

In coalition with women’s health advocates, we succeeded in getting Congress to amend the NDAA to allow military insurance to cover for abortion care in cases of rape or incest. Prior to the amendment, servicewomen who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest were required to pay out of pocket for this abortion care, even though DoD insurance policies for civilians included such coverage.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging a Wisconsin law that required voters to present one of a narrow set of approved photo IDs — a requirement that functioned as an unconstitutional poll tax. One of the plaintiffs, Carl Ellis, was an Army veteran whose only form of photo ID was his Veteran Identification Card, which the state refused to accept. After years of litigation, the state legislature amended the statute to require election officials to accept veteran IDs.

We sued on behalf of four servicewomen who wanted to serve in combat but were barred from doing so because of the military’s longstanding combat exclusion policy. Despite serving with distinction, these women were denied access to the career advancement and leadership pathways that flow from combat assignments. Following our lawsuit, in 2015, the DoD announced that all military combat positions, units, and schools would officially be open to women.

The ACLU filed a complaint on behalf of Chelsea Manning, a transgender servicewoman and whistleblower incarcerated at a men’s military prison, demanding access to medically necessary care and the ability to live according to her gender identity. After a sustained advocacy campaign led by major LGBTQ groups, the Obama administration commuted Manning’s sentence in January 2017.

We represented Iknoor Singh, a Sikh student at Hofstra University who was denied enrollment in Army ROTC because he refused to cut his hair and beard and wore a turban in accordance with his faith. We sued the Army under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the district court ruled in Singh’s favor, finding that the Army’s refusal to grant a religious accommodation could not withstand strict scrutiny.

The ACLU of California joined a movement led by deported veterans to provide legal support and advocacy to veterans who were deported from the U.S. because deportation laws make no exception for those who have served. Over the years, this work has led to the lawful repatriation of at least 175 deported veterans; the introduction of numerous bills in Congress; and the creation of a dedicated unit devoted to repatriating and supporting non-citizen veterans.

We filed an amicus brief in United States v. Manning that raised constitutional concerns about the government’s ability under the Espionage Act to engage in discriminatory prosecutions — targeting individuals like Chelsea Manning for disclosing information that contradicts favored narratives. In 2016, Congress enhanced protections for military whistleblowers. for disclosing information that contradicts favored narratives. In 2016, Congress enhanced protections for military whistleblowers.

We challenged a policy issued by the first Trump administration banning transgender people from serving in the military. Representing six transgender servicemembers, we argued that the ban violated the Fifth Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection and substantive due process. The ban was rescinded in 2021 by the Biden administration but was reinstated in 2025 by the second Trump administration.

The ACLU of California filed a class action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policies to prevent non-citizens from enlisting in the military. The case ultimately led to the administration changing its policy.