Leticia Miranda

Soldiering Against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Dan Choi’s coming out will definitely be a story to remember. Erasmo Guerra, for ColorLines magazine, goes into the details of the story in this week’s web exclusive article on ColorLines.com.

A first-generation Korean-American, Choi, who jokes that he doesn’t wear his race on his sleeve, but on his face, didn’t tell his brother he was also gay. He kept his sexual orientation a secret until as late as last spring, when he came out on The Rachel Maddow Show, publicly challenging the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning gays from serving openly.

Soon after his announcement, Choi received a letter of dismissal from the Army on the grounds that disclosing homosexuality “constitutes homosexual conduct.”

More than 12,000 soldiers have been discharged under this policy, which has been in place since 1993, and this past summer, a June 30 hearing of National Guard officers recommended that Lt. Dan Choi be likewise discharged. A final decision has still not been issued.

As a final decision has yet to be made, Choi has been traveling throughout the US coming out against the policy that unfairly discriminates against queer people in the military.

Read the rest of the story here.

Posted at 11:21 AM, Sep 04, 2009 in ColorLines Features | Permalink | View Comments