UPDATE: Military Board Recommends Dismissal of Lt. Dan Choi
July 1, 2009
On Tuesday, a military administrative board recommended that Lt. Dan Choi – Iraq war veteran, Arabic linguist, and member of the LGBT service member’s organization Knights Out – be discharged from the National Guard under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. The panel of military administrators heard Choi’s testimony and, after four hours of deliberation, submitted their recommendation.
Lt. Choi became one of the leading advocates for the repeal of DADT after coming out in March in the Army Times newspaper and on The Rachel Maddow Show.
In a statement to MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, Lt. Choi responded to the decision saying, “I’m disappointed but I need to send a message to my soldiers that if you get knocked down, get yourself back up and keep fighting. What kind of officer or leader would I be if I gave up?”
Lt. Choi’s case now goes to the First Army commander and the chief of the National Guard Bureau for review. If discharged, Lt. Choi will become the 266th service member to be dismissed under DADT since President Obama took office in January 2009.
News of Lt. Choi’s dismissal comes after a slew of media coverage of DADT in the past week:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a statement indicating that he wants to make the implementation of DADT “more humane” until Congress can address its possible repeal. Secretary Gates stated he has lawyers studying ways the law might be “selectively enforced.”
The White House also issued this response to a question regarding the timetable for the repeal of the policy:
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach appeared on Tuesday’s CNN Newsroom to discuss his own pending dismissal. The 19-year veteran spoke with President Obama at this week’s White House reception celebrating the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. Although the Lt. Col. was hopeful for President Obama’s movement on DADT, he did not appear as hopeful for his own pending case:
“I think that I may end up being discharged at the end of the day, but if the law’s repealed, then that’s—that’s for the greater good. I hope that, if it is repealed, then maybe I can come right back in the military and finish out my career.”
On Monday’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, Chuck Todd interviewed openly gay Rep. Jared Polis of Colo. During the interview, Rep. Polis voiced his support for the repeal of DADT saying:
“Really, the only area where I have seen any disagreement over this is under the Capital dome. I think we need to make a lot of progress on that. The American people and the military are more than ready.”
Keith Olbermann brought on writer and LGBT advocate Dan Savage on Countdown to discuss President Obama’s addressing of DADT during the White House reception in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
Savage brought up the interesting comparison between Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s suspension of the “widower’s penalty” – a policy which requires the deportation of non-citizen widowers of U.S. citizens – to the reluctance of the Obama administration to halt DADT dismissals. Savage sarcastically joked, “[Napolitano] seems to have authorities and powers that the President, her boss, Commander-in-Chief does not.”
We’ll keep you updated as Lt. Choi’s case progresses.
Related Posts:Celebrating Pride in New York and Across the Country
June 30, 2009
Hundreds of thousands crowded New York City’s streets Sunday for the city’s annual LGBT Pride festivities. Sunday’s march marked an especially significant occasion for LGBT people and their allies as it commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the event that most view as sparking the modern LGBT rights movement.
San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities across the globe celebrated on Sunday as well – marking 40 years to the day since the famed uprising took place.
New York’s march, which ends its two mile course near the historic Stonewall Inn, drew prominent figures from the LGBT movement, both past and present. Dustin Lance Black, who recently won an Oscar for his screenplay Milk, was one of four grand marshals at the parade. Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, both of whom worked closely with the iconic LGBT rights leader, Harvey Milk, also grand marshaled the event. Additionally, hundreds of organizations, companies, and political groups marched in support of the local and national LGBT community.
New Yorkers appeared hopeful that soon they would join the ranks of such states as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Delaware and New Hampshire and become the seventh state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples. A bill that would extend marriage protections to same-sex couples is currently pending a vote in the NY senate.
Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), a strong proponent of the bill, was an honorary grand marshal in yesterday’s parade. Gov. Paterson told The Associated Press yesterday that “if we have an end to the stalemate in Albany, [he] would think that [the bill] would be passed shortly after.”
But some were in more somber spirits, reflecting on what they see as President Obama’s lack of commitment to the LGBT community. The New York Times, for instance, published an editorial on Sunday, in which columnist Frank Rich noted that “Obama’s inaction on gay civil rights is striking.”
Rich goes on challenge President Obama to action, saying:
Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places.
Blogger ‘ARDem’, however, said to readers on DailyKos and Pam’s House Blend that LGBT people should celebrate their progress, rather than ruminate over their losses:
the fact that a popular President is being held to task for his lack of action on behalf of [the LGBT] community is something that should be reassuring… instead we could be facing the same things those that went before us did – organized state oppression, a world where hatred of LGBT Americans isn’t simply a disgusting fact of life but something to be expected and uplifted. . .
‘ARDem’ bids his readers to “channel the courage of Stonewall” in their struggle toward equality.
Yesterday, President Obama honored the 40th anniversary of Stonewall alongside 250 plus LGBT leaders in the East Room of the White House.
Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said of the event:
[It] is a chance for the White House to recognize the accomplishments of LGBT Americans. Invited guests include families, volunteers and activists, and community leaders. This event was long planned as a way to applaud these individuals during Pride month.
GLAAD’s incoming President, Jarrett Barrios, attended the White House event with his 17-year-old son, Javier. Barrios said the event “was a symbol of the fact that the administration recognizes our community at a time when there has been growing frustration about his administration’s seeming reticence to follow through on campaign promises.”
GLAAD will continue to report on the media’s coverage of Stonewall’s 40th Anniversary. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org as they become available.
Related Posts:Incoming GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios Statement on White House Event to Commemorate Stonewall
June 29, 2009
New York, NY, June 29, 2009 – Jarrett Barrios, incoming President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), today joined fellow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates as well as President Obama and Mrs. Obama at a reception to commemorate the Stonewall Riots of 1969 — when patrons at a New York city gay bar fought back against police brutality and harassment and set in motion a wave of activism.
“It was an honor to take part in this important event for the gay and transgender community with fellow advocates and my 17-year old son,” said Jarrett Barrios, incoming President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and former Massachusetts state Senator. “Today’s event, the first time that Stonewall was commemorated by the White House, was a symbol of the fact that the administration recognizes our community at a time when there has been growing frustration about his administration’s seeming reticence to follow through on campaign promises.”
“During his speech today, President Obama said that the road to equality is not only about changing laws, but about changing hearts. Indeed, legal advances are vitally important, but full equality requires us to move our culture – through conversations, living openly in our communities, and through media representations- to a place where gay and transgender Americans are accepted and understood.
“Our community will continue to advocate and will be watching closely to ensure Obama makes good on the promises he discussed today and during the campaign. At the heart of the issues discussed today are everyday Americans who want the same chance as everyone else to earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and take care of the ones they love.”
Related Posts:GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios Pens Washington Post Op-ed on Stonewall
June 29, 2009
WashingtonPost.com is running an opinion piece by Jarrett Barrios – former Massachusetts state Senator and incoming President of GLAAD – about his attendance at today’s White House event with President Obama commemorating the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Read an excerpt here:
“I have to admit I was ambivalent when I received the invitation, with its fancy curlicue script (truly, just like my sister’s wedding announcement) and a return address that read simply “The White House.” The problem is that I haven’t been as excited as I’d like to be about President Obama. I’d been excited by Candidate Obama. His campaign invited people like me and my husband Doug — gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans — into his aspirational vision of America the Possible. But, as President Obama, he has presided over an administration that has stumbled — sometimes symbolically, sometimes substantially — in its commitment to include us on the agenda.”
…
“When I told my 17-year-old son Javier about the reception, he could sense that I was torn. From across the dinner table, he looked straight at me: “Papi, you need to go to the White House, and you need to take me. It’s the President.” Not persuaded by that one, kid. “It’s the President, and he needs to see our family, too. To remind him that we’re counting on him.”
Click here to read the full article.
Related Posts:Gallup Poll Includes Muslim Views on Homosexuality
May 21, 2009
Gay Muslims are getting an increasing amount of media coverage recently thanks to award winning documentaries like Jihad for Love and even Showtime’s new show Nurse Jackie which co-stars Haaz Sleiman as a gay Muslim nurse. So, it was not surprising when the survey, Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Interfaith Relations, asked Muslims about their views on homosexuality-and garnered media interest.
Dalia Mogahed Photo Courtesy of Times Online
Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director of the Gallup Centre for Muslim Studies and appointee to the White House faith-based advisory council, released the Gallup survey results on May 7 in London. Compiled from six different surveys, the study looks at Muslim attitudes in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is Gallup’s first annual report on the state of faith relations and global attitudes among people of faith in different traditions and countries around the world.
Germany came in second with 68% of non-Muslims and 19% of Muslims demonstrating acceptance towards homosexual acts.
Gallup Survey
Out of the 500 Muslims in Britain interviewed, all responded negatively but gay Muslims in the UK are becoming increasingly visible and raising awareness. Groups like Al-Fatiha and Imaan are working hard to give a voice to gay Muslims in the UK. Al- Fatiha is in the process of conducting their own survey in order to better understand the experiences and concerns of the British LGBT Muslim community. Meanwhile, Imaan sponsors an annual LGBT Muslim conference in order to reconcile Islam with sexuality and educate people that Islam is not a homophobic faith and one that all LGBT can practice.
LGBT Muslims are slowly emerging into the spotlight and changing hearts and minds. As expressed by gay UK journalist Omar Hassan in his recent commentary of the Gallup polls findings in The Advocate, there is no reason not to be optimistic: “I’m still hopeful. Together, we can build new families and communities. It won’t be easy, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying. After all, we owe it to each other — we deserve it.”
Journalist Christopher Hitchens Defames Comedian Wanda Sykes
May 13, 2009
Reports have surfaced that author and journalist Christopher Hitchens used a defamatory slur about openly lesbian comedian Wanda Sykes after her performance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington, DC this past weekend.
New York Magazine’s Daily Intel blog broke the story in a post titled “The Unseen Moments of the WHCA Dinner.” The report gives a behind the scenes account of how various attendees behaved at the event, and in some cases, what they said. Here’s how Daily Intel described the Hitchens incident:
By the end of the night, Christopher Hitchens was of course the last man (barely) standing, and he had some choice words for the evening’s headlining comedian, Wanda Sykes. “The President should be squirming in his seat. Not smiling,” he said. “The Black D**e got it wrong. No one told her the rules.”
In criticizing Sykes’ performance, Hitchens denigrates her by going after her race and her sexual orientation as a way of putting her in her place. After last year’s performance at the National Press Club, nobody criticized Stephen Colbert by calling him a “straight white male.” But Hitchens felt comfortable referring to Sykes as a “black d**e” as a way of dismissing her based on her identity, and took it even further by implying that is the reason she doesn’t know “the rules.”
In a country where people can be fired from their jobs for being gay, and where black women are paid 69 cents on the dollar compared to white men, it’s all too common that people are judged based on who they are, not for their job performance. It’s despicable that Hitchens seems to engage in a similar approach – denigrating who she is as a way of attacking her performance.
We urge media outlets who are booking Hitchens to take into account the kind of rhetoric that he’s so comfortable using so casually.
Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao’s Story Covered By MSNBC, Online Media
May 8, 2009
As a result of yesterday’s blog post featuring Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao and her handwritten letter from President Obama, media outlets and interested online users alike have taken notice and have begun including Sandy’s story in the public debate over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military ban.
Thousands of people came here to read about Sandy’s story, and online outlets like The Huffington Post featured links back to the post or included information about Sandy when discussing other cases of DADT.
We had also pitched the breaking news about President Obama’s handwritten letter over to MSNBC producers at The Rachel Maddow Show. Producers immediately took interest and Rachel Maddow shared Sandy’s incredible news as the lead story.
You can watch the piece below:
Rachel Maddow followed Sandy’s story with that of First Lieutenant Dan Choi, who was discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell for coming out as gay on an earlier show. Choi is also the founder of Knights Out, an organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) US military academy alumni and their supporters.
Here is video from his previous appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show:
Please continue to check back as we continue to ensure fair, accurate and inclusive coverage on this issue. I will be working closely with Sandy, Dan and others in the immediate future to share their stories and show the public the emotional toll Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has played on these soldiers’ lives.
A Personal Promise From President Obama On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
May 7, 2009
Last night, I received a phone call filled with exciting news from a close friend to GLAAD, Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao. Sandy is a Chinese American woman and army officer based out of St. Louis, Missouri. Sandy originally reached out to me last January as a result of her brave decision to come out as gay.
At the same time, Sandy also sent a heartfelt letter to President Obama urging him to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).
Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao
An excerpt from her original letter in January reads:
Today is Chinese New Year day. I hope it will bring good fortune to you and your newly elected office. Today is also the day I inform my chain of command of who I am. One of the seven army values is integrity. It means choosing to do the right thing no matter what the consequences may be. As a Christian, this also means living an honest life.
In closing, she wrote:
We have the best military in the world and I would like to continue to be part of it. My mother can tell you it is my dream to serve our country. I have fought and overcome many barriers to arrive at the point I am at today. This is the only battle I fear I may lose. Even if it is too late for me, I do hope, Mr. President, that you will help us to win the war against prejudice so that future generations will continue to work together and fight for our freedoms regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.
Obama's Letter (click to view larger image)
This past Tuesday, May 5, Sandy received a package from the White House. As Sandy unwrapped the thick envelope and looked inside, she tearfully fell to her knees. Protected between two pieces of cardboard, the parcel contained a handwritten note from President Obama.
The President, responding to Sandy’s letter, wrote:
Sandy – Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my commitment. — Barack Obama.
Sandy and I have spent the past few months sharing her story in the media so others know about the unfortunate reality facing gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens in the armed forces. We began sharing her story with Asian Pacific Islander media, mainly because of their growing interest for more LGBT stories. We had also shared her story with mainstream media outlets, but received no response.
I initially pitched her story to Audrey, a magazine reaching more than 10,000 Asian American women across the country.
Click here for the full story by Sandy
Audrey’s Editor-in-Chief, Anne Kim, readily agreed to pick up Sandy’s personal account about coming out in the military. Her editorial can be found in the April/May issue that is currently on newsstands (or by clicking on the image to the left).
I also reached out to my contact at The World Journal, a Chinese language daily newspaper reaching nearly 350,000 readers. The reporter immediately interviewed Sandy and subsequently wrote a feature piece on DADT and its impact on openly gay, lesbian and bisexual service members.
Sandy’s last day in the army is May 19. She is being forced to leave the military, another service member discharged under the DADT policy.
Right now, she is preparing to rejoin everyday life as a civilian. But even though Sandy is sad to leave her dream job, she hopes her story will contribute to repealing the military ban. Sandy is even more encouraged by President Obama’s personal promise to allow others like her to serve openly in the military with pride and dignity.
The White House Web site
The debate over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is still alive in the media landscape. Bloggers like Joe. My. God recently found the White House Web site had revised its language on President Obama’s commitment to lift the ban for openly gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans from serving in the military.
While the story of revised White House Web site language may fall out of the news cycle, we can be sure that DADT will continue to capture the media spotlight. The advocacy, reports and media coverage surrounding the ban have only expanded the public debate, scrutinizing the reasons and rationale for delaying the day when openly lesbian, gay and bisexual people can serve in the military.
The President’s personal reply extends beyond Sandy and her story. It’s a powerful message to the American people that one day everyone will be able to serve their country free from the fear of being discharged simply because of their sexual orientation. However, as the President’s note alludes to, the timeline to fulfill that commitment remains unknown.
My work with Sandy is one example from many that highlights the very reason why we need GLAAD’s Asian Pacific Islander Media Program. Whether we are providing a media training for LGBT community leaders from Mainland China to pitching a Seoul-based newspaper a hate crimes story, my work aims to harness the power of media with cultural competency. GLAAD’s commitment to the Asian Pacific Islander community and other communities of color is united by a simple belief that we must bring all of our experiences to the table when engaging in meaningful debate for fairness and equality.
Below, you can watch a clip from The Rachel Maddow Show which followed the story of the White House Website revising its DADT language:
And here is a collection of media coverage related to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:
Related Blog Coverage
Joe. My. God:
- White house fixes DADT Language on website, “repeal” replaces “change”
- White house restores LGBT rights promises on website (but changes DADT wording from “repeal” to “change”
- White house shrinks LGBT rights commitments list on official site
The Bilerico Project:
- Disrespecting the troops, one thousand officers at a time
- Obama hits pause on the repeal DADT button
- Robert Gates wants to “push” DADT repeal “down the road a little bit”
