This afternoon, following the Pentagon instructing recruitment offices to let gays apply to enlist, discharge Lt. Dan Choi — who has mastered his public speaking tone — strolled over the Times Square military office to sign up. While gay wannabe soldiers are allowed to sign up, the Pentagon warns them that any “admission” of homosexuality could be used against them at a later date if DADT manages to stay alive.
sign 'em up
Dan Choi’s Reenlistment Circus Makes Times Square Tolerable For 5 Minutes
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reason
Excellent, sign him up and send him straight over to Afghanistan we desperately need Arab linguist over there. When the stay is imposed I wonder if they will have to investigate again? If so it would probably take long enough that the law will be repealed by the congress which will avoid interrupting his service.
Ryan
I was going to sign up, but now that I legally can it has lost it’s appeal. I change my mind. Next issue please…
Kieran
What you describe as a “circus” looks more like good old- fashioned ACTIVISM to me. We could use a lot more gay representatives like Dan Choi in the media.
Jeffree
Update: Choi tweeted that he has re-enlisted—but in the Army, not the Marines, due to his age. The New York Times and ABC have picked up the story on their websites, along with other LGBs who enlisted today.
Swimmer - Chicago
Who needs Obama and the Democrats – they have done nothing for us! It appears the courts are kinder to us than the creeps we voted to gat us our rights. Well screw ’em – I hope both the House and Senate go to the Tea Party!
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
THANK GODDESS FOR DAN CHOI [and Omar Lopez who tried to reenlist in the Navy last week before recruiters go their new orders]. While a certain gay military advocacy group is simply advising, “Hide, Bambi, Hide!” and others are MIA, Dan once again demonstrates we can’t wait for change, we must seize it, keep knocking on its door until it opens. THIS IS HEROISM, folks!
And all the inexplicable obsessive-compulsive snark doesn’t diminish it.
Jason in Austin
Go away Mr. Choi. Your fifteen minutes are up.
Michael
I have a new respect for Dan. He’s never waivered from his desire to serve in the military, and with re-enlistment, proves he is a man of conviction. Now that the path has been cleared, where are all the others who claimed the same anxious desire to serve? In this video, I see Dan forming a line of – one. Will legalization of same sex marriage yield a similar result?
reason
@Swimmer – Chicago: Who do you think put those judges in office? Democrats. Judge Virginia Phillips was appointed by William Jefferson Clinton.
Cam
@reason: said…
”
Who do you think put those judges in office? Democrats. Judge Virginia Phillips was appointed by William Jefferson Clinton.”
_______________
I believe the judge that struck down Prop 8 was a Reagan appointee. You just never know.
As for Dan Choi, good for him. The overpayed folks in HRC attack him yet I don’t see any of them trading in their $1500 outfits for camo. He is putting his money where his mouth is, good for him.
Brutus
Good. So if this is no longer an issue, we can turn to other things. Who’s more likely to protect the environment? Oh look, I’m still voting Democrat.
Tim W
@Brutus: You are absolutely wrong. It is still an issue Obama’s DOJ has already said they are going to appeal and they are going to the 9th to ask them to issue a temporary stay. Obama claims to be for GLBT rights but so far it’s all talk. When the Senate voted to repeal DADT as part of the Defense Authorization bill do you know how many Senators he called to try to sway them? That would be none. But that same day he did call the WNBA champions. So much for our “fierce advocate”.
Cam
CNN ran a story last night and this morning because they know Choi. I’m sure HRC will come out and attack him because news reports on him and not on them even though they are so “Connected”.
DADT Victim
Dan Choi is a disgrace to the uniform. He should have been prosecuted under the UCMJ for all of his political antics in uniform. He did a disservice to us all and did not represent the voices of reason in the debate.
The key point is he knew he was violating the UCMJ, and the argument so many of us have been making for years and years is that gays and lesbians are capable of serving honorably and obeying rules and regulations. Knowingly violating the UCMJ to make a political statement or score political points is NOT honorable service, no matter how awful the policy is.
Mike in Asheville
@ No. 14 DADT Victim
If you are indeed a DADT victim, well, then, you too MUST have violated the UCMJ that you were discharged under DADT.
Defending the Constitution is a higher calling than following the UCMJ. Every single signer of the Declaration of Independence, by their signature, was a traitor to Great Britain and their King. And now we call them “founding fathers” and revolutionary heroes. Dan Choi is a hero to his cause and worthy of great respect for standing tall for all while other hide for themselves.
Queer Supremacist
@Brutus: If you would be so kind as to fuck off I’d be most grateful.
Obamunist whores: Democrats first, gays in name only.
DADT Victim
@Mike
DADT doesn’t fall under the UCMJ, but his conduct in uniform does. If he didn’t engage in his antics WHILE IN UNIFORM, I probably wouldn’t have an issue with most of it. Engaging in political activity while in uniform is strictly prohibited, regardless of the issue(s) involved.
Chaining himself to the White House fence and demanding stage time at a DADT repeal rally were unproductive and made him look like a jackass.
customartist
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Make your calls and letters to Congress polite and to the point.
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
@DADT Victim:
My, my, what a Good German you are! Mike in Asheville wasn’t necessarily suggesting DADT falls under the UCMJ. And unless you’re a celebate, or only engaged in gay sex not defined by UCMJ Article 125, YOU KNOW you were in violation, too. Your having been discharged proves you were caught at violating DADT which IS a law, too.
You fail….having been pathetically brainwashed by your military masters….to get his larger point: choosing to protest in various uniforms was A PART OF Dan’s civil disobedience in the name of a higher truth.
It is his right, and he was willing to accept the consequences of it which could have included FEDERAL prison….whereas YOU aren’t even willing to sign YOUR actual name. Coward much?
DADT Victim
Lawrence v. Texas had the effect of stripping away most of the application of Article 125 of the UCMJ (sodomy article). As Article 125 exists in a post-Lawrence nation, it is applied only to forcible sodomy, not consensual sodomy. Therefore, unless a service member is out sexually assaulting someone, Article 125 of the UCMJ does not apply. The additional effect of this is that it keeps gays and lesbians from being prosecuted under Article 125 in conjunction with or in lieu of DADT discharge proceedings.
You should brush up on your constitutional law and how it relates to the application of military statutes.
Cam
@DADT Victim: SAid..
Dan Choi is a disgrace to the uniform. He should have been prosecuted under the UCMJ for all of his political antics in uniform. He did a disservice to us all and did not represent the voices of reason in the debate.
___________________
Hi HRC troll.
Funny, the policy you say he broke was just declared to be unconstitutional by the Federal courts. So what you are saying about him could be compared to a school teacher that taught bloack children in a class reserved only for whites. Would she have been a disgrace because she violated the separation laws that were then declared unconstitutional? No. The Federal court seems to back up Choi’s opnion that the policy was discriminatory and unconstitutional.
You claim he didn’t represent the voice of reason, however, what was the voice of reason, HRC telling the White House “Don’t worry about us, we’ll just sit here quietly”? Choi gettin on the news and activists sitting in on the offices were the only things that got this issue pushed forward along with te Log Cabin’s suit, so why don’t you sit back and worry about the next Black Tie Gala?
DADT Victim
@Cam
You seem to have DADT confused with military regulations governing wear of military uniforms and engagement in political activities. DADT was declared unconstitutional, the others were not even remotely considered during the case. I don’t recall reading anywhere in the decision that a prohibition on chaining yourself to teh White Hosue fence in uniform was unconstitutional.
As for HRC, just because HRC and Choi hate each other doesn’t mean I like HRC just ebcause I have issues with Choi. The sooner Queen Solmonese and crew pack up and get the hell out of town the better. It was HRC’s paid hack, Eric Alva who just recently said he didn’t want DADT to go away (and that’s probably how HRC feels as well). HRC told the president DADT was not a priority until gay vets stopped donating and HRC started hemorrhaging money.
While HRC is an organzation that exists to self-aggrandize and line the pockets of its senior staff, I find Choi’s actions far more insulting with regard to my personal patriotism and respect for the military uniform. I could really give two shits about how Choi chooses to protest, as long as it is not in uniform.
Evan
@DADT Victim: You clearly don’t understand the UCMJ. The political activities forbidden in uniform include partisan political activities and anything that makes it appear that the military endorses a particular political position. DADT repeal is a nonpartisan issue, and protesting against an existing military policy doesn’t exactly look like a ringing military endorsement.
He did violate the UCMJ in one non-DADT-related respect, by violating local laws through civil disobedience. But minor infringements of local laws are hardly uncommon among military servicemembers, and are usually dealt with through minor NJP.
You Must Demand Stuff
I wanna be an ac-ti-vist so ffff-ing bad.
Dan Choi and getEqual have really shown the President that they won’t accept this bs. Obama and the Congress are running scared. It’s time for more civil disobedience and protest. Choi should put on some weight and then do another hunger strike.
Come on activists – we’re so close to victory. Just get a little crazier and a little louder.