Daniel Choi

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Daniel Choi
Born 1981 (age 27–28)
Dan Choi at Bryant Park NYC.JPG
Daniel Choi at a LGBT pride rally in Bryant Park
Nickname Dan Choi
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army, New York National Guard
Years of service 1999-2009
Rank First Lieutenant
Battles/wars Operation Iraqi Freedom

Daniel "Dan" Choi (born 1981) is an American infantry officer from the United States Army who served as a combat veteran of the Iraq war who has since become a LGBT rights activist. He has become known for challenging America's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy which forbids lesbian and gay service members from serving openly when he came out of the closet in March 2009 on the The Rachel Maddow Show.[1][2]

Contents

Military education and career

Choi graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2003 with degrees in Arabic and environmental engineering.[3] Choi served as an infantry officer in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. In June 2008, he transferred from active duty Army to the New York National Guard. Choi serves as a National Guardsman with the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, based in Manhattan.[3]

Choi received a discharge letter following his coming out on the The Rachel Maddow Show. In response, Choi penned an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama and the United States Congress.[4] In the letter, Choi challenged the morality and wisdom of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, writing that the policy is "a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders who have demonstrated that an infantry unit can be professional enough to accept diversity, to accept capable leaders, to accept skilled soldiers."

Despite his appeal and a Courage Campaign petition signed by almost 162,000 people, on June 30, 2009, a panel of New York National Guard officers recommended that Choi be discharged from the military.[5] The final decision, to be made by the commander of First Army and the chief of the National Guard Bureau, is still pending.

Choi is among 59 gay Arabic linguists, along with 9 gay Farsi linguists, who have faced a discharge from the U.S. military from Don't Ask Don't Tell's inception until June 2009.[6]

Gay rights activism

Since Choi's coming out, 38 West Point alumni also came out and announced the formation of Knights Out, an organization of West Point alumni who support the rights of LGBT soldiers to serve openly. Choi was one of the founding members and is the spokesperson for the group.[7]. The organization offers "to help their alma mater educate future Army leaders on the need to accept and honor the sacrifices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops."[7][8]

Choi has also spoken at numerous gay rights events, including a march in Los Angeles following the California Supreme Court's affirmation of Proposition 8. On May 27, 2009, he addressed a demonstration of gay activists outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where President Barack Obama was speaking at a Democratic National Committee fund raising event[9]. In addition, Choi spoke at the 2009 Pride Rally in New York City and served as a Grand Marshal alongside Knights Out in San Francisco's 2009 Gay Pride Parade.[10]

On July 16, 2009 Choi was in Culver City, California to introduce the premiere of Abe Forman-Greenwald's documentary called Silent Partners.[11] The documentary is the fourth episode in the In Their Boots series, with the episode focusing on the partners of LGBT soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. In the episode, Choi criticizes the U.S. military's neglect of the partners of service members.[11]

Personal

Choi is the son of a Korean American Baptist minister.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Dan Choi, Fired Gay Arabic-Speaking Linguist, Speaks To Rachel Maddow (VIDEO)"
  2. ^ "Transcript of the March 20, 2009 Rachel Maddow Show". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29836340/. 
  3. ^ a b "West Point grads form gay support group". Army Times. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/military_westpoint_knightsout_031609w/. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
  4. ^ "Lt. Daniel Choi Begs to Keep His Job in National Guard". ABC News. May 11, 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7569476&page=1. 
  5. ^ CNN. June 30, 2009. Discharge recommended for gay Army officer, supporters say
  6. ^ Nasaw, Daniel. "Don't ask, don't tell: gay veteran of Iraq takes on US army". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/29/gay-veteran-us-army-choi. Retrieved 6 November 2009. 
  7. ^ a b "Knights Out". Knights Out. http://knightsout.org/. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
  8. ^ Dizon, Rhiza. "West Point Grads Form Gay Support Group". Advocate. http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/03/17/West_Point_Grads_Come_Out,_Form_Support_Group/. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
  9. ^ "Lieutenant Dan Choi Takes “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Directly To Obama". May 30, 2009. http://www.laprogressive.com/2009/05/30/dan-choi-takes-dont-ask-dont-tell-to-obama/. 
  10. ^ "Knights Out board". SFist. http://sfist.com/2009/06/30/gay_pride_grand_marshal_lt_dan_choi.php. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
  11. ^ a b Zavis, Alexandra (July 18, 2009). "'Silent partner' examines what happens when people 'don't tell'". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gay-military18-2009jul18,0,848628.story. 
  12. ^ Crary, David (12 April 2009). "Gay West Point grads target ban on serving openly". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/12/national/a102259D00.DTL. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Choi"
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