Saturday Morning Man: Lt. Dan Choi!

It is unfortunate that Lieutenant Dan Choi’s military career is being ended because he is gay. But the military’s loss is the LGBT equal rights movement’s gain.

The New York Army National Guardsman and Arabic translator is a powerful voice who is insisting on being heard. Choi was discharged under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy by a military administrative board last week. Proceedings against the Iraq War veteran began in the Spring after he came out on MSBNC’s Rachel Maddow Show.

At a rally in West Hollywood in May, I was so inspired by Choi’s words. Here’s part of what he said: “Gay soldiers are slapped in the face and told, ‘Don’t ask.’ They’re told, ‘Don’t tell.’ Well I am sick of asking. It is time to tell! Asking didn’t work for Caesar Chavez. Asking didn’t work for Rosa Parks. Asking didn’t work for Dr. Martin Luther King and asking didn’t work for President Barack Obama.”