The State - News from March 1, 1987

A former Air Force major claims in a lawsuit that rumors about an alleged lesbian relationship forced her to quit the service, ending a 13-year career that saw her become the first woman to head her squadron. Marsha L. Lutz, 37, of Walnut Creek filed a $1-million suit against the military in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Lutz, who resigned in September, 1985, has never been a homosexual, her lawyer, Thomas Jackson, said. “She was career military (and) she wanted to stay in,” he said. “But her superior officers told her her career was finished and she had no future.” Lutz was stripped of her command of 250 people in the 2035th Information Systems Squadron at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, merely on the basis of gossip, the suit says. Just before her command ended, Lutz had received “excellent” ratings from the inspector general, Jackson said.