US – Sunday, September 5

Asking and telling them anyway

Lt. Dan Choi had no idea how much his life would change after March 19, 2009, when he appeared on “The Rachel Maddow Show” in order to break the military code of “don’t ask, don’t tell” by admitting that he was a serviceman who is gay.

“When we went on ‘Rachel Maddow,’ we were only talking about West Point, and about  [the common] knowledge that there are West Point graduates who are gay,” Choi explains about his controversial appearance. “I was just saying, ‘Hey, they can say whatever bad things they want about us. As long as they say ‘gay’ and ‘West Point’ in the same sentence, it was a culture shock that needed to be put out there for people.’”

Following that appearance, Choi was put on military trial in June of the same year. The military board recommended his discharge for the violation of “don’t ask, don’t tell” — but today, a year later, the case has not been finalized and Choi continues to serve.

Choi is happy to continue serving, but he takes issue with those who advocate a gradual repeal of the stringent policy.

“You have a lot of spokespeople out there — they’ll say that we have to be very careful about how we repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” Choi explains. “I’m more resentful of their line of thinking. It’s so careful and incremental and accommodating to homophobes and bigots that are just basing public policy on ignorance.”

Given that Choi’s case was publicized, it could be construed that he’s been given special treatment.

“I think it’s inherently unfair that I should be able to serve continually for an entire year and all of these people are getting kicked out under this administration and the Pentagon’s policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” Choi says. “And I said, ‘Okay folks, if the law is the law, then why has it been 12 months and you still don’t have the courage to execute the law? In their minds, I think, they don’t want me to be a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ discharge.”

Choi’s public visibility has drawn a tidal wave of reaction. Overnight, he became a gay spokesperson and activist. On the anniversary of his appearance on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” he and a fellow serviceman chained themselves to the White House fence as a symbol of civil resistance.

And this year, he is the Grand Marshal of New York’s gay pride parade.