The year was 1987. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) was prominent in the news and Joseph Steffan had just admitted to two of his classmates he believed he was homosexual. At the time, Steffan was six weeks away from graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, a service academy where gaining admission and persevering through grueling academics and military indoctrination was a significant accomplishment in itself.
Once leadership found out, his dreams of being in the Navy and serving his country were shattered. He was forced to resign or face unsettling consequences and career difficulties. He resigned, but almost immediately reconsidered and sued to be reinstated so he could graduate from the Academy. With assistance from the LAMBDA Legal Defense Fund, he sued the Department of Defense. The DOD won the lawsuit, but a panel of judges ordered him reinstated. Later, in 1994, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld his dismissal. Steffan was one of many servicemembers who over the years would also fight the injustice of not being allowed to serve because of their sexual orientation.
In 2000, Joseph Steffan (UConn Law ‘94) donated his personal papers, correspondence and legal files related to his lawsuit to the Law School. These papers provide an in-depth look at the legal research and strategy conducted by his team. Using original materials from the collection, the exhibit depicts his story from acceptance into the Academy, forced resignation and the long legal process to allow him to graduate from the Academy.
Of interest in the collection were the many letters written to Steffan during the years long process from people all over the world, most who he had never met, in support of Steffan and his fight but also sympathetic because they too had been discriminated against because they were homosexual, or had to hide who they were in order to keep their positions. Many were also in the military.
Stop by UConn Law Library and check out this thought provoking exhibit.
