Articles tagged with: servicemembers & veterans
Sara’s News, 10/18/12: The very real consequences of DADT repeal
The very real consequences of DADT repeal; seeking survivor benefits for same-sex partner of Alaska shooting victim; waiting on SCOTUS decision about whether it will hear Prop 8 case; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Sara’s News, 8/27/12: Brig. Gen. Tammy Smith — U.S. military’s first openly gay flag officer
Brig. Gen. Tammy S. Smith becomes the first openly gay officer of flag rank in U.S. military, California Senate votes to make “ex-gay” therapy illegal for use with minor children; our community’s changing alphabet soup; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Sara’s News, 6/5/12: Federal appeals court finds DOMA unconstitutional
Federal appeals court rules DOMA unconstitutional; lesbian councilwoman may become NYC’s next mayor; gay students graduating openly at military academies; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska (with supplemental info from Bent Alaska).
Sara’s News Roundup 3/20/12: Apple-y Ever After
I scream, you scream, we all scream for (Ben & Jerry’s) ice cream (for marriage equality in the UK), the same-sex marriage debate in the black community, and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Saturday night: “Love and Hate” fundraiser for Operation Morale Boost
Love and Hate… Makin’ up… or breakin’ up! Come on out for another fundraiser for Operation Morale Boost on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at Mad Myrna’s!
Paige’s Birthday Wish: A Saturday evening of entertainment benefiting Operation Morale Boost
After spending Thanksgiving with loved ones, help celebrate Paige’s 31st birthday this Saturday, November 26, by helping Operation Morale Boost send off packages to servicemembers unable to be with their families this holiday season.
Ask Lambda Legal: Options after Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
Lambda Legal answers the question: Now that DADT has been repealed, can former servicemembers who were discharged under that policy re-enlist?
Dan Choi, soldier & activist (LGBT History Month)
Lt. Dan Choi is a West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran and Arabic linguist. He was the nation’s leading activist for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Bent Alaska presents his story as part of our celebration of LGBT History Month 2011, with thanks to the Equality Forum.
Dan Choi
“Action and sacrifice speak much more loudly than the best crafted, eloquent speech.”
Lt. Dan Choi (born February 22, 1981) is a West Point graduate, Iraq War veteran, and Arabic linguist. He was the nation’s leading activist for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).
Choi was born in Orange County, California, and raised in an evangelical Korean-American household. His father is a Baptist minister; his mother is a nurse. Inspired by the film “Saving Private Ryan”
After graduating from West Point with degrees in Arabic linguistics and environmental engineering, Choi served as an Army infantry officer in Iraq. In 2008, he transferred from active duty to the Army National Guard. That same year, Choi and a group of West Point alumni founded Knights Out, an organization supporting the rights of LGBT soldiers.
In 2009, Choi appeared on the “The Rachel Maddow Show” and said something that would change his life forever: “I am gay.” Within a month, the U.S. Army notified him that he was being discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
When he received his discharge papers, Choi knew he had to fight back. He wrote an open letter asking President Obama to repeal the policy and reinstate him, calling his discharge “a slap in the face.”
Choi sent his West Point graduation ring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It was a reminder to the senator of a promise he made to repeal the ban on gays and lesbians in the military.
Choi became the leading activist and national spokesman for the repeal of DADT. His media savvy drew attention to the issue. In 2010, he was arrested three times for handcuffing himself to the White House fence during protests.
Later in 2010, Choi was invited to the White House to witness President Obama signing the bill repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” into law. Afterward, Senator Reid invited Choi to his office, where he returned Choi’s West Point ring.
“The next time I get a ring from a man,” Choi responded, “I expect it to be for full, equal American marriage.”
Choi continues to advocate for LGBT civil rights and for veterans’ health benefits. He is a graduate student at Harvard University. He resides in New York.
In March 2009, Lt. Dan Choi said “I am gay” on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show. Watch:
Lt. Choi was interviewed again by Rachel Maddow in May 2009, after he was discharged from the Army for being gay. Watch:
For more about Dan Choi, visit his website, LGBT History Month page, or Wikipedia article.
Photo credit: Lt. Dan Choi at New York City pride march, 27 June 2010. Photo by Boss Tweed (on Flickr); used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
Bent News,10/4/11: Booing a gay soldier — presidential politics, post-DADT
Post-DADT presidential politics, as illustrated by continuing reaction to the booing of an active-duty gay soldier at a Sep. 22 GOP candidates debate; and more in this edition of Bent News.
(Based on @bentalaska tweets and Facebook shares from October 2–3, with supplementation.)
Presidential politics, post-DADT
- Cain says he should’ve defended booed gay soldier; McCain says all GOP candidates should’ve. (via @AMERICAblogGay) http://t.co/EirAGYud #
Nearly two weeks after audience members at a Republican presidential debate booed Stephen Hill, a gay soldier serving in Iraq who asked if GOP candidates planned to “circumvent” the repeal of DADT, Republican candidates and politicians are defending — or not defending — their lack of response to the disrespect shown an active-duty servicemember.
Herman Cain said he should not have stayed silent, and Sen. John McCain agreed that none of the candidates should have; whereas Mitt Romney said,
I don’t know when they booed and I don’t know why they booed. But I will tell you, that the boos and applause hasn’t always coincided with my own views, but I haven’t stepped in to try and say, ‘this one is right, this one is wrong.’ Instead, I focus on the things I think I will say.
ThinkProgress reports that “Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, and Herman Cain are the only candidates to publicly distance themselves from the jeering after last month’s debate.” Both Rick Santorum and Herman Cain have stated they would reinstate Don’t Ask Don’t Tell if elected president.
President Obama, by contrast, told the audience at the annual Human Rights Campaign fundraising dinner last Saturday,
We don’t believe in the kind of smallness that says it’s okay for a stage full of political leaders — one of whom could end up being the president of the United States — being silent when an American soldier is booed. We don’t believe in that…
“We don’t believe in standing silent when that happens. We don’t believe in them being silent since. You want to be commander in chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it’s not politically convenient. We don’t believe in a small America. We believe in a big America — a tolerant America, a just America, an equal America — that values the service of every patriot.
Audience members gave the President a standing ovation. ThinkProgress has video — watch:
ThinkProgress also has analysis and text of President Obama’s full speech at the HRC dinner.
Notably at Saturday’s dinner, there was a table filled with servicemembers — both active-duty and retired — wearing their uniforms. HRC spokesman Michael Cole-Schwartz said it was a first for active-duty members to do so, since it’s also the first post-DADT dinner.
However, President Obama is “still working” on his views about same-sex marriage, and is still stopping short of advocating for full marriage equality, though he endorsed the end of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Other tweets
- Week in Review of LGBT news from @gaycivilrights Wall Street, Saudi women suffrage, DADT cases, Obama at HRC http://t.co/48RLl1GG #
- Why do conservatives oppose military chaplains’ religious liberty? (via @TPEquality) http://t.co/R5QfrMSp #
- @afterellen tells us about five documentaries to watch during LGBT History Month http://t.co/OKvFUFeG #
- Country singer Toby Keith OK on same-sex marriage? Yep! Whaddaya know. Good for him. (via @TheAdvocateMag) http://t.co/QFwfC3lN #
- South Africa: So-called “corrective rape” of lesbians — & now a serial killer may be stalking gay men. The Advocate http://t.co/AK5sDIBM #
Alaskans celebrate the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
Alaskan soldiers & Senator Begich reflect on the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which ended on Tuesday, and the LGBT community celebrates at two local events.
