Advertisement
West Point graduate to stand trial Tuesday for being gay
By David Edwards and Stephen Webster
Published: June 29, 2009
Updated 10 hours ago
U.S. Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, a graduate of the West Point military academy and an Arabic translator, will face a military panel on Tuesday which may discharge him for admitting he is gay.
His case was mentioned in a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by 77 Democratic members of Congress. They called the 10-year veteran an “exceptional” soldier. Some have even referred to him as “the de facto face of the movement to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I face a discharge tomorrow morning, simply for being honorable and telling who I am, in truth” he told CNN host John Roberts on Monday morning.
Should he be discharged, it would “strip away a lot of the veterans benefits, and that can include education, home loan, and even veterans hospital and medical benefits,” he added. “These benefits that I’ve earned being a combat veteran of the Iraq war.”
Choi, apart from his role as an Arabic Language Specialist in the Army, leads an organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender West Point alumni called Knights Out.
“Our OUT members include former West Point professors, Rhodes Scholars, decorated combat veterans from the Vietnam War, Iraq and Afghanistan, peacekeepers who served in Haiti and Bosnia, men and women from the first co-ed class (1980), an ordained minister, and many others [...]” the group’s Web site says.
Choi, in a letter to supporters on Friday, asked for signatures to a statement of support he hopes to present to the committee.
“As I learned at West Point, deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force,” he wrote. “That’s why more than 70 of my fellow West Point graduates have also come out of the closet to join Knights Out, the organization I co-founded to build support for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.
“The only way we will eventually overturn ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is by speaking up together. You can help me fight back right now by adding your name to my statement of support. On Tuesday morning, I will bring your signature–and thousands of others–to my trial as a demonstration of your collective support.”
This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast June 29, 2009.
Video at orignial page bit.ly/nkgag
By David Edwards and Stephen Webster
Published: June 29, 2009
Updated 10 hours ago
U.S. Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, a graduate of the West Point military academy and an Arabic translator, will face a military panel on Tuesday which may discharge him for admitting he is gay.
His case was mentioned in a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by 77 Democratic members of Congress. They called the 10-year veteran an “exceptional” soldier. Some have even referred to him as “the de facto face of the movement to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I face a discharge tomorrow morning, simply for being honorable and telling who I am, in truth” he told CNN host John Roberts on Monday morning.
Should he be discharged, it would “strip away a lot of the veterans benefits, and that can include education, home loan, and even veterans hospital and medical benefits,” he added. “These benefits that I’ve earned being a combat veteran of the Iraq war.”
Choi, apart from his role as an Arabic Language Specialist in the Army, leads an organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender West Point alumni called Knights Out.
“Our OUT members include former West Point professors, Rhodes Scholars, decorated combat veterans from the Vietnam War, Iraq and Afghanistan, peacekeepers who served in Haiti and Bosnia, men and women from the first co-ed class (1980), an ordained minister, and many others [...]” the group’s Web site says.
Choi, in a letter to supporters on Friday, asked for signatures to a statement of support he hopes to present to the committee.
“As I learned at West Point, deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force,” he wrote. “That’s why more than 70 of my fellow West Point graduates have also come out of the closet to join Knights Out, the organization I co-founded to build support for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.
“The only way we will eventually overturn ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is by speaking up together. You can help me fight back right now by adding your name to my statement of support. On Tuesday morning, I will bring your signature–and thousands of others–to my trial as a demonstration of your collective support.”
This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast June 29, 2009.
Video at orignial page bit.ly/nkgag
posted by:
|
SF Bay Area
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
-
Re: West Point graduate to stand trial Tuesday for being gay
Tue, June 30, 2009 - 6:40 AMThat's what happens when your nation goes all christian on you. Yet we can't get anyone in the military or intelligence departments to stand trail for being stupid or for torture.
This is all part of a larger problem with this country. It has lost it's way. -
-
Re: West Point graduate to stand trial Tuesday for being gay
Tue, June 30, 2009 - 11:46 AMChoi shows incredible courage in the face of the rights abuse he has had to tolerate along with his peers. Imagine the courage it took to form that organization Knights Out. It's like the first Pride parade. What an amazing individual he must be.
-
-
Re: West Point graduate to stand trial Tuesday for being gay
Wed, July 1, 2009 - 7:35 AMI belive this is what they call a "Status Crime"....comitting a crime based on your human condition, not your will...Status crimes include being gay, being black, being a woman and being out without a man...most of the civilized western world dropped "Status Crimes" decades ago.
As usual, the military is behind the curve -
-
Re: West Point graduate to stand trial Tuesday for being gay
Wed, July 1, 2009 - 11:02 AM"Status crime"
That is an interesting terminology that I hadn't heard before. Thanks for sharing.
-
