National Guard Lt. Dan Choi of Tustin just issued a statement in which he acknowledged yesterday’s military panel recommendation that he be discharged for being openly gay - and that the decision makes it likely he’ll be fired. (Click here for the story on the panel’s decision and public reaction.)
“I’m not going to hide my love,” he writes.
Recalling the Cadet Prayer he recited while at West Point, Choi said he learned to “choose the harder right over the easier wrong and to never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.”
“That’s why I can’t give up now,” he writes. “I’ve got to keep on fighting…. The only way we can win this fight for truth is if the political cost of discrimination eventually becomes too great for the system to operate successfully.”
To that end, he is gathering signatures on a petition he plans to deliver to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on July Fourth. If you don’t already see it below, click on the prompt to read Choi’s statement including links to the petition.
Here’s Choi’s statement. It was sent out by Campaign Courage, a California-based group best known for advocating a repeal of Proposition 8:
I’ve got some bad news.
After 10 years of service to our country — including leading combat patrols, rebuilding schools and translating Arabic in Iraq for 15 months — the Federal Recognition Board issued its recommendation on Tuesday that I be discharged from the Army for “moral and professional dereliction” under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
The board’s decision to fire me is not the end. Now that this panel of four officers has recommended my discharge, it still must be approved by senior officials in the Army, a process that could take a few weeks to a year. Unless something unexpected happens, it may be just a matter of time before the Army officially fires me.
I will not give up, no matter the odds. Because I know that the only way we will win this fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is by facing it head on. And I need your help again to keep up the fight.
I’ve made my case to President Obama — supported by more than 140,000 of your signatures. I’ve made my case to the Army — supported by more than 160,000 of your signatures. And I will continue to make my case until they fire me for good.
Now we need to make our case to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Will you join me in asking Speaker Pelosi to strongly support legislation currently in Congress that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”? Please sign on to our letter before July 4th and I’ll personally deliver your signatures to the Speaker ASAP:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealDADT
At West Point, I recited the Cadet Prayer every Sunday. It taught me to “choose the harder right over the easier wrong” and to “never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.” The Cadet Honor Code demanded truthfulness and honesty. It imposed a zero-tolerance policy against deception, or hiding behind comfort.
That’s why I can’t give up now. I’ve got to keep fighting. My fellow servicemembers — and the 70 fellow West Point graduates who have also come out of the closet to join Knights Out, the organization I co-founded to push for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — would expect nothing less.
The only way we can win this fight for the truth is if the political cost of discrimination eventually becomes too great for the system to operate successfully. We need to raise the political cost in Congress so that Speaker Nancy Pelosi understands that, as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall once said, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
Speaker Pelosi needs to make “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” a priority now and come out strongly in support of legislative action to repeal this discriminatory law. Will you stand by my side now and sign our letter to the Speaker before July 4th? You have my word that I will deliver your signatures to Speaker Pelosi personally:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealDADT
As I said a few days ago, national security means many things, but the thing that makes us secure in our nation and homes is love. What makes me a better soldier, leader, Christian and human being is love. And I’m not going to hide my love.
Love is worth it.
Thank you for your support.
Daniel W. Choi
1LT, IN
New York Army National Guard
Toss that bum, soldiers are supposed to follow orders not question them. Pushing his selfish agenda will waste more taxpayer money and time, hopefully being an $8 an hour security guard will be more gratifying for him.
Well said!
I have some very bad news for you regarding where your Bee Gees albums come from….
Fight the good fight. Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong. May Right prevail always. Gay or straight, I want the person next to me in a bunker to be a fighter, not a quitter!
ocJay905! we stand with you.
AND LT CHOI.
DISCO? PUHleeeeeeeeeese…how can you EVEN…o…nevermind. (Im considering the source…and it is NOT hard to draw a conclusion as to the mentality) no need to ENGAGE a discussion with such….
The law says, “Don’t ask, don’t tell”. He disobeyed the law. Now he will suffer the consequences. He wants special treatment., he places himself above the law. Dump him. If he can’t follow orders I don’t want him in my outfit.
The guy speaks fluent Arabic! Hook him up at the NSA!!
Disco—He should just be a good soldier and always follow orders,eh?Heard that at Nuremberg,didn’t we?
Yabul mein Kommendant!!
The issue is separation of business and pleasure, since his personal identity conflicts with his ability to perform duties as a soldier he should be tossed. I have no personal interest one way or the other but the lobby who is backing him will not rest until the courts are clogged with complaints at the expense of taxpayers and perhaps even justice. I’m glad we have the right to peruse frivolous causes in our country but looking narrowly this is a matter of flaunting policy for egotistical edification. If it persists he should be thrown in jail and mailed a bill for ignoring what seem to be simple rules. The military’s stance is ” be whoever the hell you want but don’t let it get in the way of work”. It’s not discrimination just a request to leave you baggage at the door and act professional. Obviously, he can’t.
There’s no reason whatsoever that being gay and in a (presumably stable) gay relationship would effect anyone’s work in the military, any more than anyone in the military’s straight relationship (stable or otherwise) would.
Lt Choi was only affected when the military decided to make his personal life their business.
This person, a Police LT., and a West Point graduate, KNEW of the “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” policy when he joined the Service. He KNEW he would be dismissed if he was discovered and he took that chance. Now that he is caught, he screams, “It’s not fair, It’s not fair.” I don’t think his precious Honor Code from “The Point” really means that much to him if he was living a lie for so long. But now he points to it and tries to use it. I find this disingenuous, deceitful and pathetic. Time to honor your own code and accept the consequences of your actions.
Rosa Parks knew the rules of segregation when she boarded that bus.She knew she was breaking the law when she sat in the front.
Sometimes laws are broken as a form of civil disobedience.I hope Lt. Choi will be remembered as this generation’s Rosa Parks for his courageous stand.
My thoughts exactly. Well said.
you need to stop tying to make the struggles of people who never had a choice being of a race with people who make a choice about their lifestyle. There is no compairison between Rose Parks and this man.
Rosa Parks was not a liar.
If you think being gay is a “choice” you are ignorant about the subject and should spare everyone else your uninformed opinions about gay rights.
You’re comparing this guy with Rosa Parks?!?! This is a false argument. Last time I checked Rosa Parks was born black. Do you any evidence that Choi (or any other homosexual for that matter, was born gay? You can’t compare race with sexual preference and orientation. The “we were born that way” argument has not one grain of truth, which is why it has been abandoned by the gay mafia. It was an early softening technique that was employed after a great deal of market testing showed that people had a less offensive reaction to homosexuality in general when they were told the homosexual person was ‘born that way.” It was a big lie then and still is today. If homosexuality was a genetic trait, homosexuals would have been selected out of existence over time yet their ranks are swelling all the time…
Please cite your sources on this, last I checked it was proven that homosexuality is genetic
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8332896&dopt=Abstract
Huh? Quit insulting Rosa Park and those that were lynched and hung off trees for their skin color.
He entered the point under a lie and lied on his application. The man never held up the honor code even for a day. The man chose to enter the service knowing he should not, and now wants the service to accommodate his desires.
It has nothing at all to do with any form of discrimination it has to do with being a liar and not intentionally going where you are neither wanted or needed. The guy needs to be prosecuted for perjury on his point application form.
The guy lied it is as simple as that, he is a slime ball. My friends that are gay are also honest, it has nothing to do with being gay, it has to do with living a deliberate lie
Being gay does not give you a pass on dishonesty until it is convenient .
Just because a rule or law is a rule or law doesn’t mean that it’s right or justified. This country was founded on the idea that if a rule or law is amoral, you protest it and try to get it changed.
ahhoorrahh..that’s what I’m talking about. Who gives a rats a@@..rules are rules..and untill they change LT. your out-of luck. Resign your commission and save yourself the embarrasment of having the Military have to kick you out. It would be a shame as you apparently have already served our country…. you know the rules…..or do you?
No one said you can’t be all you can be..just some of it needs to be kept private. What’s the deal with that anyway? all this Gay pride attention is demeaning your cause.. and bringing unwanted attention upon the military..in particular over a policy that was in place at the time of your entrance. If you didn’t like the policy..why join..and why come out knowing what it would create..He has not been completely honest as he says he is for his whole issue is me..me..me.. I refuse..I refuse…
well partner…you had no trouble attending West Point at the cost of the American People… now you want to renege even after you knew the policy..and you can’t tell me they didn’t cover this controversial policy at West Point.
This a fraud pure and simple on his part..he should recieve disciplinary action and even a courts martial.
Primitive thinking..yes..An officer without integrity…using the system for his own benefit and then coming out when he has known all along what the rules were. We’ll see what happens
All arguments aside, why is there this need to make known ones sexual preference? Why the need to form Knights Out? Why the need to go on public television and announce ones sexual preference?
Well said. “I’m not going to hide my love”? Love of what? The Choi’s of this world have a narcissistic personality or some serious mental problem. Why do you have to tell the world about your personal life? You joined the military then follow its policies. I go to work everyday and abide my company policies. I do not discuss my private life with my coworkers no want to hear theirs.
I don’t believe for one moment that you have never said things to friends and coworkers that don’t betray your (presumed) heterosexuality to them.
Kimchi, you and your lover Choi can keep your orifice preference to your self.
No wonder needs to know or care.
Maybe it’s not the desire to “announce”, but the reluctance to hide one’s sexual orientation.
Gay or Straight who cares! It is only some of the breeders who are afraid! I am personally not afraid of anything that Gay people bring or may be. I wish people would get over it! They are no different they love in a different way who are we to say that love is wrong. If you believe that they were born that “way” then you should have no problem with gay people. Live and let live!
YOU say his personal identity conflicts with his ability to perform as a soldier.There are zero studies to back up that speculation.
DADT will soon be gone ,relegated to the dustbins of history along with loyalty oathsand poll taxes.
Sorry,Disco, you are on the wrong side of history on this.
Rosa Parks challenged a law that dicriminated against her race. Lt. Choi is challenging a law that asks him to keep his chosen sexual preference to himself. A person’s race is something they are born with and cannot change. The same cannot be said for someone’s sexual preference, which can change several times in a person’s lifetime.Also there is no conclusive scientific evidence to support the “Born that way” theory.
The military doesn’t care or want to know your sexual preference. Why does this soldier who has served our country well feel it necessary to make everyone aware of this area of his personal life.
I am telling you. It is impossible for the OCR to go one week without a gay story in it.
Posted in: Gay issues |
See, they have an entire area devoted for it.
Where is the normal couple section?
There will be a “normal” couple section when people start trying to pass laws outlawing their love
idk the classifieds section under personals?
relegated to its rightful place..not plastered all over the news…No one cares what you do behind closed doors with consenting adults. Just follow the rules when you sign on..that’s all. Thinking that you have aright to go against officers and policies under whose command you have been placed undermines unit cohesivness. What part of “not all people want to be around gays” or to be subject to it, Yet…gays take every opportunity to do just that…gay parades…gross public behavior… sorry about the apparent lack of attention as a child…or whatever..but the military has a job to do and LT Choi knew what he was doing and is trying to draw attention to his agenda by taking it to the President….jumping ranks to make his case.
Rosa Parks was not a LT in the US Army….and the race issue is not relevant here.
Certain rights are given up when civilians enlist…to maintain military good order as decided by superiors…not him.
He has abused his rank and his priveleges as an officer of the U.S. Army and should either resign or be discharged for the “Good of the Service”
Even the President knows you have to have rules…..and untill they are changed…sorry about your hard luck..but you clearly brought this one on yourself.
I admire his principles for being honest about his personal life, but disagree about about him as a military officer making this into a personal rights issue; he is not a civilian and there are military regulations to follow. Lt. Choi is an officer and knew what the policy was before he made his revelation. He chose to come out knowing the consequences. Live and let live, but he needs to live with the results and move on.
Soldiers in Iraq die. Gays should be soldiers. Ergo, Gays in Iraq die. I won’t tell anyone.
For those of you who consider homosexuality a choice,the only choice is if they choose to act on it.Believe what you will but realize that your views are at odds with the human behavior experts.The APA and AMA as well as other pertinent organizations all agree that sexual orientation is not a choice.Behavior is but orientation is not.
In this manner both Rosa Parks and Dan Choi had no choice who they were.She had no say in being black and he had no choice in being gay.
Plug your nose and blow it out your - Rosa Parks? Give me a break.
Don’t even try to bolster the “gay is natural” argument by propping yourself up with Rosa Parks.
How lame is that…
ok then I’ll bolster the “gay is natural” argument with this link
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8332896&dopt=Abstract
Hope it helps!!
Kimchi, can you and LT Dan procreate with your orifices? I don’t think so.
Your “natural” argument is completely baseless. What you have is a natural occuring mental disorder and you’re in denial.
I agree with mensarino about orientation, but of course behavior can be controlled.
I wonder - if they recind the dont ask dont tell policy will they still allow gays to sleep in the same dorms with other gays? If so, will they then need to allow males and females to live in coed dorms? I’m pretty sure that is what makes it a sensitive topic.
I disagree with mensaniro unfortunetly. For every 50 experts that support that theory theres going to be another 50 that can prove otherwise.
Until the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” rule is changed Lt. Choi should & will suffer the fate of breaking the rules no matter how honorably he served of which I thank him but rules are rules.
Occhief—-Respectfully,there are no experts out there who contend that homosexuality is a choice.Check out the official position of the American Psychiatric,Psychological and Medical Associations on this.
The guy knew the rules and he broke them. Too bad for him. Is he so naive that he does not understand the mentality of a lot of people in the military? Being openly gay and in the infantry could be really hazardous. Not saying it’s right. Just saying.
How is being openly gay in the infantry hazadrous?
go enlist and find out…experience is the best teacher!
Pvt. Space
Front and Center!!
Mark—I don’t care what you believe but don’t try to use psychology as a basis for your argument.Psychology removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses decades ago as did Psychiatry.
You should use some other argument because your are in error on this one.
spacekimchi,
I went to the link you suggested on Dean Hamer’s work. No conclusive evidence there only suggestive possibilities.
Here is what Dean Hamer actually said about his own study;
When asked if homosexuality was rooted solely in biology, gay gene researcher, Dean Hamer, replied, “Absolutely not. From twin studies, we already know that half or more of the variability in sexual orientation is not inherited. Our studies try to pinpoint the genetic factors…not negate the psychosocial factors”
Several twin studies, Human Genome Project, Simon Le Vay’s mapping of the human brain and still there is no conclusive scientific evidence for predetermined sexual orientation.
Averagejoe—To be even more accurate,we do not know what causes sexual orientation for gays or straights,we just know that whatever the orientation…it wasn’t chosen.
mensarino,
What evidence do you have to support your claim that sexual orientation is not chosen?
I have read the APA’s hand book on homosexuality and sexual orientation. This is what I found;
What causes a person to have a particular sexual orientation?
“There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.”
I don’t call this evidence. First they say science doesn’t know. Then it makes an unsubstantiated claim in the last sentence. In doing so the APA has moved into the realm of activisim. The APA has a history of not reviewing any research that doesn’t coincide with thier agenda and no longer functions as an objective body.
Also from the APA;
“Mental health professional organizations call on their members to respect a person’s (client’s) right to selfdetermination”
Sounds like they are saying to allow the patient to choose thier sexual orientation.
When it comes to who we will or won’t have a relationship with, is up to the individuals choice. Nothing is predetermined. I have personally witnessed men move from gay to staight and gay to bi. This is choice.
Good for you!! Averagejoe1954.
I agree completely! In particular,
“Mental health professional organizations call on their members to respect a person’s (client’s) right to selfdetermination”
right to self-determine…uuhmmmm,
self-de·ter·mi·na·tion (slfd-tûrm-nshn)
n.
1. Determination of one’s own fate or course of action without compulsion; free will.
2. Freedom of the people of a given area to determine their own political status; independence.
from; http://www.thefreedictionary.com/self-determination
free will…individual choice..