March 18, 2010 5:14 PM

Lt. Dan Choi Arrested at White House During Gay Rights Rally

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
In The News
(Credit: CBS)

Lt. Dan Choi, the openly gay Iraq war veteran who has been an outspoken opponent of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, was arrested Thursday after chaining himself to a fence at the White House.

The Advocate reports that Choi, along with former Army infantryman Jim Pietrangelo, was arrested after chaining themselves to the fence following a rally in Washington for repeal of the policy, which bans gay men and women from serving openly in the military.

Choi, who announced his sexuality on national television, has not formally been discharged under the policy, though his discharge is reportedly pending. Pietrangelo has been formally discharged.

"You have been told that the President has a plan," Choi said at the rally, according to his prepared remarks. "But Congressman Barney Frank confirmed to us this week that the President still is not fully committed to repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year. And if we don't seize this moment it may not happen for a very long time."

Gay rights groups have criticized the Obama administration for not moving quickly enough on gay rights issues, including repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The military is now in the middle of a review on the impact of repeal, which is set to end by December 1st. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that repealing the policy is the "right thing to do." Gen. David Petraeus said earlier this week that the time had come to consider ending the policy.

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing Thursday on repeal. Witnesses included Marine General John Sheehan and two officers who were discharged because of their sexual orientation.

According to reports, Choi crashed the rally, hosted by the gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign and comedian Kathy Griffin, and asked attendees to join him in a march to the White House, turning the event into more of a protest.

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese did not march to the White House, in an illustration of the split in the gay rights movement between establishment organizations like the HRC, which generally support the Obama administration, and activists like Choi, who are pushing more aggressively for action.

A video posted to YouTube shows protesters chanting "Equality, Now" as Choi and Pietrangelo stand chained to the White House fence.

A Personal Look at "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"


Add a Comment See all 18 Comments
by keenstyle2 August 14, 2010 5:18 PM EDT
I keep hearing how many people support the Lt Choi and his big bold decision to publicly announce the fact that he?s gay after switching to the National Guard. Choi, a front man for a Gay Rights group at the once distinguished West Point calling themselves ?Knights Out? has absolutely nothing to be proud of. Choi who I will no longer refer to as Lt since the decision to discharge him, for some reason thinks people in the Army care about ?his relationship between him and a man? This is the first step of the degradation within the Army. When is MSNBC going to ask Soldiers what they think of gay rights within the military?
This isn?t a debate on ones sexual choice. This is about keeping moral and motivation. Has MSNBC asked anyone in the Army if they would mind being in the shower with three gay soldiers while being deployed? Or sharing a room with someone that openly professes his homosexuality and has frequent visitors to his room? You can be sure this soldier and every other soldier I know won?t put up with it and will take measures to ensure our ethic and moral security while fighting for our country, even if it means switching units and or branches if the Army wants to go down this destructive path. The radical Gay Rights movement is seeping into the Military and this is just the beginning. If you start feeding it now, it will only get bigger and stronger. Expect swarms of equal rights attorneys filing violation of rights lawsuits totaling in the millions, footed by the tax payer and bogging down the military.
Sex has no place in the military especially while being deployed. I applaud the officers on the Federal Recognition Board?s decision to discharge Choi, except that it took four hours of deliberation to do so. The rules of the Army are clear, Don?t Ask Don?t Tell, what?s the need for deliberation? Our Military officers play an important role to lead, not screw around with other officer or soldiers sexual choice issues, this is exactly why Don?t Ask Don?t tell was instituted.
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by FineTunes March 20, 2010 6:29 PM EDT
uk..lover:
The only shame is when Lt. Choi and his men are putting their lives in harms way, they was defending the likes of you. If anything, we need to put the likes of you and your hate mongering cronies in the front lines to defend your own beliefs.
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by dcolton57 March 19, 2010 4:02 PM EDT
"let us consider some of the ways in which a law can be unjust. A law is unjust, for example, if the majority group compels a minority group to obey the statute but does not make it binding on itself..." MLK Letter from Birmingham Jail. The repeal of DADT and DOMA is a moral imperative. Lt. Dan Choi sits not in a Birmingham jail, but appropriately in a Washington Jail because "one who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of community over its injustice is in reality expressing the highest respect for law." Let us all join him there.
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by rlewis101 March 19, 2010 1:28 PM EDT
Stand Tall Lieutenant

I salute you

101st Airborne Division
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by anagheel March 19, 2010 1:42 AM EDT
Let's have a policy that the straight(myself)cannot reveal there sexual orientation to fellow military personnel(dont ask dont tell for everyone).if that is not possible then scrap this racist policy.......NOW.
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by FineTunes March 19, 2010 12:43 AM EDT
From what I've read of this case, Lt. Dan Choi has served this country well and is well respected by his troops that have served with him. It is time that we stand up and reciprocate by doing the right thing by eliminating this policy of DADT. With shortage of people willing to serve in the military, low retention rates, low enlistments, cut backs in the military and sending our troops for longer and more frequent tours of duty, it makes no sense to discharge those who serve with excellent records because of the DADT policy. His Arabic speaking career field is critical and he should never been discharged because he is openly gay.

When I last heard I thought that he was being reinstated and was returning to his unit, but it appears that the Obama administration is dragging their feet on this one. Clinton should have never instituted the policy in the first place--another broken promise.

If you are in combat, you don't care of the color, religion, politics, gender or sexual orientation of the buddy watching your 6.

The only thing that I might disagree with, is that Lt. Choi chose to demonstrate while in uniform. If he was in civies this would not be an issue.
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by CBSisCommunist5 March 18, 2010 11:40 PM EDT
Chaining self to a fence-that is what we want from the GAYS during battle.
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by erb0087 March 19, 2010 4:57 AM EDT
by CBSisCommunist5 March 18, 2010 11:40 PM EDT
Chaining self to a fence-that is what we want from the GAYS during battle.
============================================

This wasn't a military batle. It was a protest.

What should they be doing ? Sitting on their butts posting on the Internet like you and me ?
by hockeymom441 March 20, 2010 3:08 PM EDT
right - b/c big men like you, who hide behind over-thought screen names are the "tough guys", right?!?

Get a life! Dr. Choi is a brave soldier, in combat abroad and here. It's embarrassing that our country has such issues w/ gays. Even if you don't support gay marriage, the don't ask, don't tell policy is a national embarrassment, as our bigots like you.
by seeking_understanding March 18, 2010 10:55 PM EDT
Lt. Dan Choi is a West Point graduate who speaks Arabic. The military needs Arabic translaters. Lawbreakers? Standing up for equality and end to discrimination by using civil disobedience hardly makes one a criminal. It makes one a hero.

Please share with me your education and skills. Because juvenile comments about show tunes, decorating and gay's being lawbreakers reveal your lack of intelligence, common sense and empathy. You critize the very people who want to defend this country. Shame on you.
Reply to this comment
by Dakotahgeo March 20, 2010 2:34 PM EDT
Thank you, seeking_understanding! I wish I had said that!
Dakotahgeo, M.Div. Pastor/Chaplain
by WMUSMC March 18, 2010 10:43 PM EDT
The fact that soldiers are being discharge because they are gay goes against the grain of what this country stands for: "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL..." It is truly disgraceful that the military could and has used the excuse of homosexuality to discharge perfectly qualified and, in most cases, overly qualified soldiers. Do you think other soldiers will care about the sexual preference of their fellow soldier...if that soldier is an expert marksman... or if that soldier can carry a wounded soldier 10 miles on his shoulders?!? We lost a lot of awesome Marines based on this idiotic, outdated, and discriminatory rule and we are less of a unit for it. Most of the gay soldiers I know graduated at the top of our class in bootcamp and most with honors. They were more adept and over qualified for the job and yet they were let go. The military should want to keep these capable, patriotic, and awesome soldiers. NONE OF US cared whether they were gay or not. All we cared about was that they could do their job and do it well. In fact, in most cases and if we had a choice, we WANTED them to watch our backs when needed because they work harder to prove themselves. We need to stand up for these soldiers just as they are standing up for our country and everything that it stands for whether it be here, in the middle east, or around the world. They are willing to give their life in service of our country and they ALL (gay or not) deserve our gratitude and our support!!
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by JPS11 March 18, 2010 9:38 PM EDT
Wow jollypants (as if that's not a gay sn), you're a moron. I'm sure that people are gay in jail because criminals are gay and not because they are ***** and hae no access to women. They don't go into jail gay you idiot, they make do with what they have. You are all pathetic little people if you can't handle a couple flamers in the military. If they want to fight and die for their country, then **** it... I proudly salute you and the sacrifice that you make. The country would be in better shape if we got rid of the idiots that are posting on here, they are much more detremental to society then the gays.
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