When U.S. Army First Lieutenant Dan Choi uttered the phrase “I am gay” on Rachel Maddow‘s show in March, he had to expect this day might come: He’s been kicked out of the National Guard. A member of Knights Out — a group of West Point grads who came out publicly to protest Don’t Ask Don’t Tell — he received a letter informing him of his dismissal, which read in part: “You admittedly publicly that you are a homosexual, which constitutes homosexual conduct … Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard.”
He’ll be on Maddow’s show again tonight.
Of course, Choi isn’t the first, nor the last, to lose his military job over DADT. But I guess we can wait till President Obama finds a “sensible” way to change — err, sorry, to “repeal” the policy.
alan brickman
He won’t say anything…I still think he is just a “Black George Bush”….
rickroberts
C’mon knee-jerk Obama defenders. Surely you must have some reasonable excuse for your guy’s silence and backtracking on this issue. Must – Worship – At – Messiah’s – Feet.
ask ena
Well considering we are 1/16 of the way into the President’s term (do I hear 1/32?), two wars, the worst economic climate in however long, blah blah blah, I know we’ve heard it all before…
Can we at least the prez 6 months or a year? I mean REALLY. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings, and I don’t mean SUSAN BOYLE.
ask ena
@ask ena:
“Can we at least ^^give^^ the pres…”
Oaklander
@alan brickman:
No…in a way George had more honor. George had the guts to say that we weren’t welcome. Obama’s people want gay votes, and silence. We are expected to love him, despite being spit on.
Mickey's Mouse
With the hate crimes bill, wouldn’t it be illegal to kick gays out of the army for their sexual orientation?
Seth Wright
…Glad I voted for Hillary
Alec
@Mickey’s Mouse: No. The hate crimes legislation has no impact on military policy. Although soldiers who attack others based on their sexual orientation will, of course, be subject to the act.
@Seth Wright: The idea that this would be any different under now Secretary Clinton is, I’m sorry, laughable. Both of them were sitting senators and both of them failed to cosponsor legislation repealing DADT. As a practical matter they’re equally crappy.
mick
He didn’t know this before he joined the military.
7SnowyNights
“Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard.”
This just makes me vomit…
Laura Kanter
We are friends of Dan over here in Orange County, where he lives, and we have organized a protest in his honor for this afternoon. Can you please help us spread the word! http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1102554956208/archive/1102573438313.html
End DADT
Though this is a rather frustrating and unfortunate, I don’t know why everyone is so shocked that he was kicked out. The UCMJ is a completely set of laws that military members must abide by. Yes, there are NUMEROUS stupid policies, but they still exist. I want DADT repealed more than anyone, mainly because it DIRECTLY affects my life – but I also know that there are more pressing matters in our country right now. For those of you who have never been in the military, things just don’t “happen”. Any change, especially one of this scale takes time. And even after it is repealed, do you think everything is going to be fine? No…I think life will be even HARDER for the LGB servicemen and women. When Clinton got into office, he was too green to take on such a large issue. The result of him jumping in resulted in DADT, which was supposed to be a compromise. Obama knows that he is facing the same issue – being new, not having served in the military, facing numerous other more pressing matters, etc… I’d rather have him think this through thoroughly so we don’t get another policy like DADT than have him go in guns blazing.
dgz
@Alec:
while i support the prez, and am still hopeful… in retrospect i think it may indeed have been different under hillary clinton (provided she could’ve won the general election, which is suspect).
the difference is: she wasn’t really into coalition building, cooperation, or bipartisanship. she’s a polarizing figure precisely because she’s not so big on compromising. that’s a characteristic that — in this, isolated case — might’ve been a good thing.
ah well, spilled milk. let’s hope he comes around.
SM
All you gay Obama haters crack me up. Why should he stick up for you when all you do is lash out at him. Do you all ever look at the big picture or do you react to everything using your emotions and not your brain?
Dan Choi knew what would happen when he came out. The people above him had no other choice.
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Needs to be removed through the legislature…not Obama signing an Executive Order that another President can put back in place.
When you sign up for the military, you give your life over to the military and they have many silly rules regarding straight people and sex too where you can be discharged.
I’m against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell but I’m also against the pathetic way the gay community lashes out for their civil rights all the time.
sjp
Hey, I am a white straight woman in her 50’s – a product of the ’60’s (and ’70’s), anti-war movement, progressive from age 14. I watch Rachel every day and love her. I voted for Obama because I believe that he is the very best person we could have in the office of the President of the United States. The fact that not everything has been accomplished in slightly over 3 months, even as the Republicans continue to attack and undermine Obama, is more than understandable.
Why don’t you do something more constructive with your time than sitting around complaining and blaming Obama – for instance, I just sent off an email concerning Dan Choi to about ten offices where I thought it might do some good. Here is one link:
http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/arng/opm/opm.html
sjp
Here’s my email – use any part of it if you want.
Dear New York Army National Guard,
I am writing to you to express my great dismay that First Lieutenant Daniel Choi has been forced out of the military because he stated that he was gay on national television. The greatest injustice is that this policy is still in existence – thousands of gay men and women risk, and many have given, their lives for this country, and this is the justice they get when they are open about who they are. It is entirely possible that had the openly gay Arabic translators who were fired in 2002 and 2003 not been forced out of the military by Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, much more information could have been obtained and at a far greater pace than actually took place.
It is time for the military to speak up in favor of changing this law, and seeing if those forced out of the military based solely on this law can be reinstated.
Thank you,
The Lesbian Mafia
We don’t have to fold our hands and be on our “best behavior” so a president will grant the most basic funtamental civil rights.
This is shameful.
The overly emotional Obots want to continue to live in a Teletubby land where all is perfect in their fantasy dream world … they don’t want to wake up yet … “Uh Oh Teletubbies everywhere!” it’s too much fun playing pretend!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY3FXjvyp88