Lt. Choi: Other Openly Gay Soldiers Are Being Called Back To Service During Time Of War

[ProSense]

Lt. Choi: Other Openly Gay Soldiers Are Being Called Back To Service During Time Of War

Lt. Dan Choi — the DADT advocate who was discharged from the military after he came out as gay on The Rachel Maddow Show — appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room yesterday to discuss his recent call back to training with the National Guard. “Essentially, my commander says, we’re going to war and we need all of the capable soldiers that we could get to train with us,” Choi explained.

Choi said he knew other gay soldiers who were in the process of being discharged but “had been told by their commanders” to come back for the time being. “I know of some of them that are out there. And there’s a lot of people that are in their units that I — I think they realize, look, we’re in a time of war, we’ve got to have everybody that we can.” Asked if anyone was uncomfortable about his return, Choi responded firmly:

BLITZER: Was anyone hostile or seemingly uncomfortable?

CHOI: Absolutely not. And here’s the thing, when you assume that people would do that, when you assume that people would be uncomfortable and quit, you are insulting soldiers in the most treacherous way. I can’t believe there are people that are saying a soldier would quit. You want to insult a soldier in the worst way, tell him he’s going to quit. Call him a quitter.

Watch it:

more

[jkshaw]

1. Cheers to Lt. Choi and all his fellows!

Never give up.

[TlalocW]

2. Maybe being a soldier changes something in you but

If I had been discharged for being gay, and then they came asking (or telling) me to come back, I'd tell them to go fuck themselves.

TlalocW

[we can do it]

9. I Agree- Good Enough To Die for the Country, But No Equal Rights

total bs

[Hekate]

13. Ask our DU vets how they feel. You might be surprised at the answers.

[Uzybone]

3. Good news and worthy to be recced

I look forward to the day when this is relegated to the dustbin of history. It should happen this year, no excuses.

[FrenchieCat]

4. But I thought the story was wrong......

cause I read it at DU! :shrug:

[vaberella]

5. I give up. n/t

[Smashcut]

8. It was half-wrong.

He hasn't been called back to active duty - just training. His discharge is still pending.

[stevenleser]

11. It was not half wrong. Weekend drills constitutes regular duty for Guard and Reserve troops

The article you are talking about was written by someone who didnt know what they were talking about.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[vaberella]

6. Good news. I'm with Frenchie, though. So more confirmation that once repealed, reinstatement.

That's even better news. Thanks for commenting Lt. Choi, your service is appreciated and supported. I hope there will be more soldiers reinstated.

[brentspeak]

7. It's really because the inane wars require more bodies

[kimmylavin]

10. Good for him!

And I like his quote about soldiers/quitting.
Really, what kind of soldier WOULD quit about something so stupid?

[Hekate]

14. Thank you for your service, Lt. Choi. May this country prove worthy of your sacrifice...

... and that of your LGBT brothers and sisters in uniform.

:patriot:

Hekate

[boppers]

15. It's PROOF that DADT doesn't make a difference.

As people are called back in, after being "out", and everybody realizes that nothing changes, the opponents using "cohesion", "morale", and other poorly thought arguments lose...

[Cha]

16. This is good! And to all the neanderthals

who are more interested in their hypocritical political wedge issues than equals rights..eat shit.

[Cha]

17. So he was called back to duty? Dan Choi?

THen wtf is that other op?

[QC]

18. Update here.

http://www.towleroad.com/2010/02/clarification-on-lt-dan-chois-return-to-service-with-national-guard.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+towleroad%2Ffeed+%28Towleroad+Daily++%23gay+news%29

In Choi's own words:

"I was never fully discharged and have been substituting drills because of my schedule of lobbying and pushing for repeal. I attended national guard duty this past weekend beacuse we needed to train on critical skills for a possible upcoming deployment. My discharge is still pending, but I have returned to work - and there are no instances of decreased good order or discipline. I sleep in an open bay with little privacy. No issues. Good to be back with my unit! - although I can still be fired at any moment for DADT."