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Military board calls for discharge of gay Tustin officer

June 30th, 2009, 4:16 pm · 60 Comments · posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter

UPDATED with fresh comments from Choi.

In a news conference in Syracuse, N.Y. on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, Lt. Dan Choi, who has publicly announced he's gay, vows to fight a military administrative board's recommendation that he be discharged from the the New York National Guard for violating the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. - AP Photo

In a news conference in Syracuse, N.Y. on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, Lt. Dan Choi, who has publicly announced he's gay, vows to fight a military administrative board's recommendation that he be discharged from the the New York National Guard for violating the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. - AP Photo

Lt. Dan Choi of Tustin should be discharged from the National Guard because he violated the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays, a military panel in New York decided this afternoon.

Such recommendations are typically approved by military brass.

Choi, an Arabic linguist who served in Iraq, made an announcement on national television in March that he was gay, and co-founded a West Point alumni group called Knights Out to support gays and lesbians in the armed forces.

Choi, a combat veteran, told the Associated Press that the recommendation amounted to firing him “for nothing more than telling the truth about who I am.

“I’m a leader. A setback is an opportunity to keep fighting, and I’m going to do that through my actions,” Choi said.


An estimated 10,500 gays and lesbians have been kicked out of the military since the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was established in 1997 under the Clinton administration. Most received honorable discharges because they haven’t done anything criminal, said David Glazier, a military law expert at Loyola Law School.

“In most cases you hear about, these people are highly regarded, they’re discovered to be gay, and then they’re persona non grata,” Glazier said. He said the board’s recommendation will almost certainly be OK’d by commander.

“The approval is pretty much a formality,” he said.

But Choi and his attorney are holding out hope.

The recommendation must be approved by the First Army commander and the chief of the National Guard Bureau before Choi is discharged, a process that could take anywhere from a few weeks to a year, said Maj. Roy Diehl, who represented Choi. Until then, Choi remains an active member of the National Guard, he said.

“It’s a recommendation, not a completed act,” Diehl said, adding he hoped military commanders would reconsider Choi’s value as a soldier.

President Barack Obama said Monday that he stands by his campaign promise to allow openly gay personnel in the military. He said he is talking to Congress and the Pentagon about the change, but it will take time.

The Rev. Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition, condemned Obama’s position and applauded the recommendation to discharge Choi.

“There is no question that you don’t want a man who has gender identity conflict laying next to another man on a ship,” Sheldon said.

Choi’s supporters include 77 members of Congress who signed letters urging the military to keep the lieutenant. Letters have also been signed by another 260,000 supporters nationwide.

“Dan Choi is an amazing soldier,” said Linda May of the Orange County Equality Coalition. “Dedication, honesty and integrity are foremost in his mind. He’s served in Iraq and he speaks the language. He is exactly the kind of person we want in the military.”

Choi addressed the military panel during Tuesday morning’s hearing.

“My statement talked about Army values of integrity and (about) sending a message from Knights Out to all the deployed soldiers or anyone who feels isolated, that indeed NO soldier stands alone,” Choi wrote on the Knights Out Web site.

“I also said I am gay. I refused to lie, and told them I refuse to stay silent, particularly since the soldiers in my unit respect honesty above personal gain. I recited the Iraqi poem of historic fame and of course translated it myself. In Arabic English and transliterated English.”

Choi, the son of a Baptist minister who served in the South Korean Army, was a straight-A student and president of his senior class at Tustin High School. At West Point, he became fluent in Arabic and studied environmental engineering. In 2003, he served his first stint in Iraq. In 2008, he decided not to reenlist in the Army, instead becoming a platoon leader in the National Guard.

He also enrolled at Harvard, where he is seeking a master’s degree in Middle East and religious studies. However, he’s currently on leave from school.

“Coming out as turned out to be a full-time job,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle before serving as the Gay Pride Parade marshal in San Francisco last weekend. He’d never attended a gay pride parade before.

An unscientific online poll of 307 Register readers (as of 3 p.m. today) found that 44 percent thought gays should be able to be open about their sexuality and serve in the military. Another 28 percent thought gays should be banned from the military while 24 percent favored the current “don’t ask, don’t tell policy.” The remainder want a different alternative or had no opinion. See the poll and vote in it below.

The Register’s Cameron Bird looked behind the scenes at Choi’s - and his family’s - struggle to come to grips with his sexuality. Click here to read that story.

And click here to read about Obama’s speech yesterday about “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and other gay-rights issues.

Should openly gay men and women be welcomed in the military?
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 60 Comments

  • Leave the Military Alone! says:
    June 30, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    Good Gosh! you don’t want to risk having healthy heterosexual men distracted by the behavior of some swishy males as they are ready to pick up their rifles!

    Just like gays want us to be tolerant of them, why can’t they leave our predominantly ultra masculine institutions alone?

    • Stephen Meade says:
      June 30, 2009 at 4:58 pm

      Gay and masculine are not necessarily mutually exclusive traits.

    • Warren says:
      June 30, 2009 at 7:56 pm

      I agree! Those swishy males should stay away from the military. As long as the guy is masculine he should be allowed in the Military.

  • DIna says:
    June 30, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    Absurd. Who cares, He is an American who was willing to serve this country.

    • homer92630 says:
      June 30, 2009 at 6:11 pm

      Yet, he openly violated a stated policy.

      • BruceFromHB says:
        June 30, 2009 at 6:49 pm

        And yes, “N*gg*rs to the back of the bus” was once the “stated policy”. It must really burn your butt to know that a black woman told the US government to shove that policy and was later awarded thr Medal of Freedom. As a verteran, I personally didn’t care who my buddy (male or female) wanted to bed down with as long as we covered each other backs. Too bad the Christian Right has brainwashed enough Americasn into thinking that only “properly approved Christian soldiers” are worthy of serving.

        • OCGator says:
          June 30, 2009 at 7:50 pm

          Bruce, there you Left Wingers go again blaming the “Christian Right” As I recall the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays was put in by your buddy Bill Clinton. Go back to HB.

        • BruceFromHB says:
          June 30, 2009 at 8:20 pm

          Nice try Gator but I’m a libertarian and Clinton was NOT my buddy. But feel free to try again.

        • Rob says:
          June 30, 2009 at 9:36 pm

          So, Clinton was a Christian right-winger, eh? Also, as a Libertarian (which I see you claim to be from your post below), shouldn’t you also respect and support the ‘right-wing’ perspective of religious preference? After all, Libertarianism promotes individual rights, which includes the right to follow, and be guided by, one’s religion of choice.

  • celdd says:
    June 30, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    It’s a shame that the most capable, creative people are discharged under this policy. They are forced to lie to their associates and team members about who they are and that is supposed to be good for unit cohesion (NOT).

    DADT needs to be stricken yesterday. It is an absurd policy and detrimental to our national security.

    • JB says:
      June 30, 2009 at 5:46 pm

      Who says that gays are the “most capable, creative people”? This guy could not follow the rules so out he goes. I am sure he can find a good job in the hotel management industry or as a flight attendant….

  • celdd says:
    June 30, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    Also, the word “preference” in the poll is misleading. It infers that being glbt is a choice. The word “orientation” is a better description.

  • Ihatehannity says:
    June 30, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    This is really dumb. If you’re gay you should be able to serve in the military. If you are qualified you are qualified. 10,500 peopel kicked out of the military is a startling number. I don’t see what sexual preference has to do with serving and protecting your country. I bet if a huge war broke out and we were short on soldiers the outlook would change.

  • 12tawk says:
    June 30, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    I really don’t get why someone feels compelled to announce their sexual preference…. isn’t that kind of pesronal? Why do you need people to know?

    • Half of me... says:
      June 30, 2009 at 5:40 pm

      Not to be critical, but my guess is that its more a matter of them being tired of having to hide (rather than “announce”) who they are, and forced to lie to their fellow servicemen and women whom they are also sworn to be truthful too. They seem to be between the proverbial rock and hard place. I respect anyone who volunteers to protect the rest of us and our country, with their lives if necessary. Think about that.

  • Chris says:
    June 30, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    Geez, I had a dike for a room-mate, and neither one of us could care less about the other’s sexual preference. We just did our jobs, like everyone else.

  • OCBased says:
    June 30, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    Love the sinner, hate the sin! Who cares if the guy sleeping in the bunk above you is gay, he’s capable of saving your life in the desert ditches when you’ve got gunfire coming towards you!

  • Steve says:
    June 30, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    and yet again the military upholds bigotry in its ranks. Not so long ago, they refused to integrate military units with black Americans. They used the same, bigoted, tired, excuses then that they are using now.

    And of course, why in the world would we want an intelligent, multi-lingual (including Arabic) proven war leader in the military. Much better to throw him out….must be thousands of people as qualified as Lt Choi around!!

    • jake says:
      June 30, 2009 at 5:39 pm

      I think his replacement should be the idiot that got shot by the cop after the angels game. At least that guy is straight.

  • GAYMILITARYMAN says:
    June 30, 2009 at 5:48 pm

    AS A GAY MAN WHO EARNED 3 PURPLE HEARTS IN IRAQ WE FIGHT IN PLACES LIKE IRAQ FOR FREEDOM FOR ALL. GAYS TOO.

  • asuperstar says:
    June 30, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    He lied from the beginning and got an education. I hope he served the years in the contract before “coming out.”

  • Joanne Pennington says:
    June 30, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    I was one of the people who wrote a letter in support of Lt. Choi.
    If I were in hat hearing room I would ask the panel,with all due respect what the hell is wrong with them ! Lt. Choi is highly inteligent, highly educated and a dedicated service man who has served his country and his Commander and Chief honorably. D.A.D.T. has got to go . Anyone who is that dedicated to serving all of us who sit at home , while he gives us the protection we so need during this time of multiple threats deserves a medal for doing so as do all our brave men and women looking out for us. Wake up people, we need them all ,whats next , Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, our own home front.Think about it.

  • uncle bill says:
    June 30, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    I heard they screwed him out of a purple heart (no pun intended). He was bending over cleaning his rifle and was shot. Unfortunately, they never found the bullet hole…

  • mensarino says:
    June 30, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    I thought Sheldon had died.I see he’s still around to spread his hate.Too bad…

  • normancay says:
    June 30, 2009 at 7:32 pm

    Well this is absurd on so many levels, they are willing Americans who want to go fight for their country, so why not?

    I will not go join the military and there are millions like me.

    Why not let them ?

    As someone mentioned above if they can meet all the criteria for being a sailor, airmen, solider, or marine then by all means let them, if they cannot then they should not be allowed in. If they have your back who cares who they will be sleeping with after the war/battle is over with ?

  • mensarino says:
    June 30, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    popcorn—-Get educated.Your posts are so incredibly ignorant.

  • David says:
    June 30, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    “There is no question that you don’t want a man who has gender identity conflict laying next to another man on a ship,” Sheldon said.

    What the hell is a “gender identity conflict”? Lt. Choi wasn’t a transexual. Why is anyone listening to that senile old hate monger?

  • lue says:
    June 30, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    He knew the law before he signed up. He broke it.

  • mensarino says:
    June 30, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    During the civil rights era,people broke laws intentionally to test the laws.Remember ever hearing of civil disobedience when you were in school?

  • Warren says:
    June 30, 2009 at 8:41 pm

    Its odd that the military would accpet an unskilled illegal to serve but, reject a highly educated skilled American citizen because of his sexual orientation.

  • Richard Deight says:
    June 30, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    This is ridiculous. What difference does it make whom you sleep with? Frankly it’s a personal matter and nobody’sbusiness whether you’re gay or straight.

    Here they can’t get enough highly qualified military personnel as it is, and they turn around and treat those they do have like this?

    • robert says:
      June 30, 2009 at 8:54 pm

      The problem with your statement about it being a personnel issue is that they never keep it a personnel issue. I am sure you have heard their cry “GAY AND PROUD”. If it remained a personnel issue, we would not be having any of these discussions!!

  • Ben says:
    June 30, 2009 at 8:48 pm

    I’m a combat veteran. For those of you that freely express your opinion, you have that right, for which my comrades have foght and died for. i still miss them today.

    Gays have no place in the military. Until you get off your high and mighty opinionistic collective butts and raise your hand ” to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic” , you logic in this topic is baseless and carries no credibility.

    From a retired U.S. Marine…….

  • robert says:
    June 30, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    don’t ask, don’t tell–almost as good as being in the closet

  • Warren says:
    June 30, 2009 at 9:24 pm

    Butt, there have always been gays in the military.

  • mensarino says:
    June 30, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    Ben—I respect your service but today’s military has no place for your homophobic views.
    You had your time but today’s youth don’t share your prejudices.It might have been that way when you served but no more.Your opinion is completely out of step and your former service does not qualify you as any kind of expert now.

    • Myxx says:
      June 30, 2009 at 9:57 pm

      Are you speaking for an entire generation or something? And because you don’t agree with Ben’s views or opinion, there’s no place for them anymore? Frankly, it seems to me that Ben has more right to speak on this subject than anyone else here who has never served in the military.

      Frankly, I appreciate everyone who serves in the military, but since I haven’t, I won’t speak on the subject. Other than to say that if there is a posted, approved, and acknowledged policy, it should be enforced.

      And comparing this policy to segregation, as others did above, is a terrible argument, and stupid. Being born a certain color or nationality is out of our hands… joining the military knowing that current policy will force you to compromise your values and even identity, is a choice. Also, under the current policy ‘don’t ask don’t tell’, then telling is the violation of policy, not being gay.

      People are all over the place with the heated, emotional arguments here, but the only thing that got him in hot water was violating the policy and announcing his orientation. Simply being gay was not what got him in this situation.

      • ocsleeper says:
        June 30, 2009 at 10:15 pm

        Have you even considered that gay people were just born that way? After all why would anyone choose to put up with all the crap that gay people have to deal with.

      • Steve says:
        July 1, 2009 at 7:16 am

        Another bigot heard from. So, during WWII, black American men were drafted into the military….and then told they were not good enough to serve with white men. Do you think that there weren’t plenty of white service men who agreed with that? Of course there were. Just as there are plenty of bigoted service men who are homophobic….just like you.

        The military is run by conservative, often narrowminded and bigoted men. It usually takes civilians to turn them around. Allowing the military to set their own human rights policies is like allowing the KKK to set human policy. One of the generals who sat on the panel with Colin Powell when they came up with DADT recently admitted that they had no surveys telling them anything about how in-service people felt about gays, the panel simply went with their own bigoted beliefs. Again, just like you.

  • toriforbes says:
    June 30, 2009 at 9:36 pm

    WHAT A TRAVESTY… how embarrassing..NO! WHAT A COMPLETE, UNACCEPTABLE CONCLUSION!! IAM BEYOND WORDS ON THIS….LT CHOI? know THIS…. I support YOU and am beside myself, and beyond..O DAYUM, for the 1st time in a bit, Iam without words.. let me REPEAT….Iam embarrassed…. and DANG! so saddened by our GOV…what a PISS’r…Iam stunned! LET ME ADD…THANK YOU LT. DAYUM! I cant believe it. WHAT can I DO to help…..

  • toriforbes says:
    June 30, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    change things.

  • richie rich says:
    June 30, 2009 at 10:00 pm

    Perhaps gays are so highly valued that our country doesn’t want to put them in harms way.

    Obama, as Commander-in-Chief, could suspend DADT if he really believed in repeal of it.

  • pmanative says:
    June 30, 2009 at 10:16 pm

    You have got to be kidding - Hello Lou Sheldon - I am not suffering from gender identity conflict! My gender nor my identity are in conflict. You outrageously stupid statement about a gay man being in close proximity to a straight male just shows how ignorant and intolerant you are. I am ashamed, not about being gay but having to share the title “human” with zealots like you. I know a number of individuals that are straight and serve(d) in the armed forces and I scratch my head and wonder how/why. The statement “A few good men” applies to skill sets and abilities not sexual orientation. It is sad that someone as talented and devoted as Choi is being bounced because of ignorance and fear. I feel a little less protected now that he is not defending our country!

  • ocsleeper says:
    June 30, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    People need to realize something. In todays world, Alliance makes up so much of Military activities that our soldiers are involved with. In Afganistan, our soldiers interacting with soldiers from other countries that allows openly gay personnel. We have soldiers all over the world working with our allies. If you think about it, we already have US soldiers working or fighting along side openly gay soldiers from other countries. If they can work along side openly gay foreign soldiers, then why can’t they do it with openly gay American soldiers?

  • keepquiet says:
    June 30, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    I believe in the Dont Ask Don’t Tell Policy and he should have kept quiet about his sexuality. Homosexuals in the military is a problem. I believe they can do the job just as good as a heterosexual, but the problem occurs when you stick a gay man in a group with a bunch of straight men…This is awkward especially when they have to sleep in the same barracks, & take showers & undress in the same room. If that isn’t an issue, then they would allow both men & women in the military to share barracks, showers, restrooms & lockers with each other. This is not gonna work.when one may be attracted to another. talk about uncomfortable.

    I wouldn’t want to share a public shower, bedroom, bathroom, etc with a man who may want to get in my pants.

  • Rob says:
    June 30, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    He knew the rules when he joined and he signed on the “dotted” line.

  • bob says:
    June 30, 2009 at 11:06 pm

    Does Obama stand for anything. He talks one way and acts another. Does anyone here on this blog think transgender is normal?

  • bob says:
    June 30, 2009 at 11:06 pm

    Does anyone here on this blog think transgender is normal?

  • Matt says:
    June 30, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    No but Obama does.

  • Draconifer says:
    June 30, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    Military history did not begin with 1776.
    The retreat from Iraq brings into focus
    a historic truth. Homosexual Alexander the
    Great and his lover Hephaestion won against all odds in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran. Yet an army compromised of
    heterosexuals got run out of town by
    urban partisans. “History is written by
    the winners”, not people like you.
    Would winning for a change be just too much for you?
    Be honest. I’m not gloating. No..really.

  • Draconifer says:
    June 30, 2009 at 11:54 pm

    The last eight crusades were conducted
    under similar pretences and beliefs.
    How is it a secular homosexual like
    Alexander the Great won instead?
    Not to rub it in but Julius Caesar,The Thessalian sacred Band, The Spartans, Lawrence of Arabia, and Richard the Lionheart were homosexuals.
    They were better fighters than many heterosexuals of your time could hope to be.
    Oh yes and what does mythologised theories
    have to do with military strategy? Nothing.
    In fact it’s counterproductive. Your
    God doesn’t fight or intervene in your battles it seems. Maybe He just doesn’t like you.

  • Ralph says:
    July 1, 2009 at 12:57 am

    Homosexuals are required to register for armed services upon turning 18 years of age, much like the rest of us heterosexuals. Thereby, their presence in the military is unavoidable. However, I am not elated knowing that our high ranks of the U.S. Armed forces has lost its grip on enforcing military law. Sexual pervertedness is an act, not a preference, that should be condemned and prosecuted before the military courts. The military is not a force made up of casual liberty. Those whom enlist do so because they are need of real life skills. By enlisting, you are now the property of the nation and the government that runs it. You as a soldier must obey by the orders of your superior. It is appalling to witness the bizarre circus acts that the gay community is presenting. Your gay preference has no place in the military. Your choice to be soldiers comes with sacrifices.

  • SavvyRead says:
    July 2, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    Frankly give us a break from the gays/lesbians and Michael Jackson!

    It is very likely that political pressure has discouraged the research into origins of the gay/lesbian/trans/bi characteristics as others have long been detected through amniocentesis, which can identify the genetic markings of Downs Syndrome, Mongoloid, defects; these tests well into pregnancies carry risks, parents have CHOICE then as to termination of the pregnancies often in the third trimester, hardly a matter of convenience as suggested by radicals.

    Those with Downs Syndrome have varying limitations, some adcapt and are able to be trained and have some quality of life; similarly manifested characteristics vary as in the gltb population, the lisps, the flinging arms, tusch toss/wiggle and so on.

    This population deserves respect and dignity as they are, not as they are not! This is the issue. The diaglogue seemingly has progressed to suggest “we are gay, you are NOT, and “THEY” are the superior “gene pool.” I don’t think so!

    And this is why the subject/issue should be kept out of public classrooms to ensure it is not imposed on youths without the sophistication to comprehend the complexity. They are as they are, barely more than 1% of the US population, and MOST OF US ARE NOT! Also the pressing demand to have the right to “adopt” children is threatening to the welfare of those thrust who might be tthrust into that “lifestyle;” it would eliminate CHOICE for those PRO-LIFE who are unlikely to CHANCE a child they might carry to term and place for adoption might wind up in such a circus!

    Let them come to terms with their identify and be done with it! As for The Armed Forces or any other institution, the differences are so glaring as to be so pronounced as to create general discomfort. Not to mention their failure to curb their sexual appetites and that incidence of HIV/AIDS, and the BRAVERY of those threatening the BLOOD SUPPLIES of Military Systems for Delivery of Health Care, especially in combat scenarios when this disease can be spread to those casaulties.