Joseph Steffan (born July 29, 1964 in Warren, Minnesota) is an American lawyer and gay activist. He was expelled from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1987 after revealing his homosexuality to his commanding officer. At the time he was six weeks from graduation and one of the six highest-ranking midshipmen in the Academy. In 1988, Steffan, represented by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, sued for reinstatement. His case was unique in that he was accused of no homosexual conduct; his separation from the military was predicated solely upon his admission of homosexuality. An appellate court panel rebuffed the trial judge's order that Steffan disclose his sexual activity while at the academy. In 1991, U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch ruled in favor of the Navy in the case of Steffan v. Cheney. Upon appeal, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1993 reversed the district court decision and found in favor of Steffan, but the full court overturned the decision the next year and Steffan decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
While the case was pending, Steffan finished college at North Dakota State University and law school at the University of Connecticut. His collected papers from the case now comprise the largest collection within the University of Connecticut Law School archives.[1] Steffan is now a lawyer in New York City.