Lt. Dan Choi to President Obama: “Do not fire me”

Apologies for this being a day late. I still think it’s worth sharing because Lt. Dan Choi, to be discharged from the military for being gay, is an important new voice in the effort to eliminate the discrimininatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

He’s had a busy week in Southern California since the Supreme Court made public its ruling to uphold Proposition 8 which bans same-sex marriage. Choi attended several rallies on Tuesday (including one in East LA, pictured above) then on Wednesday, was at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where President Barack Obama was appearing at a Democratic fundraiser.

His message to Obama: “Do not fire me!”

I was riveted by Choi at the Tuesday night rally in West Hollywood where he showed what an inspiring public speaker he is introducing himself to the crowd this way: “My name is Lt. Dan Choi and I am STILL gay!”

(I snapped the photo of Choi looking dapper in a suit!)

“I joined the Army because I heard a leader say, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.’ 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.”

My pal Ted Johnson blogged last night on his Wilshire & Washington site

Obama didn’t directly address the nature of the demonstrators outside, other than to note that he heard what one said as his motorcade pulled into the hotel grounds.

“One of them said, ‘Obama, keep your promise,’ and I thought, ‘That’s fair.’ I don’t know which promise he was talking about,” Obama said to some laughter, before noting that his administration has set out to do what was promised during the campaign.

Across the street from the hotel, at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Trenton Drive, some 300 demonstrators — from groups including the Courage Campaign and the Stonewall Democratic Club — chanted slogans like “Equal Rights Now!” Lt. Dan Choi, a military linguist facing expulsion after he declared his sexual orientation on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” addressed the gathering as cars honked their horns in passing by. Some demonstrators cautioned that they were not opposed to Obama’s administration, they hoped the visibility would help sway the president to take bolder action.