Don’t Fire, Don’t Fire
Don't Fire, Don't Fire
Enough with the ridiculous, discriminatory and damaging policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." There's no reason gay soldiers should be treated any differently than any others. Lt. Daniel Choi, an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic who happens to be gay, speaks out against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and his discharge, on CNN.com. Here's an excerpt:
I have personally served for a decade under Don't Ask, Don't Tell: an immoral law and policy that forces American soldiers to deceive and lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception and lying. These values are completely opposed to anything I learned at West Point. Deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force.As an infantry officer, an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic, I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates. I demand honesty and courage from my soldiers. They should demand the same from me.
...The Department of the Army sent a letter discharging me on April 23rd. I will not lie to you; the letter is a slap in the face. It is a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders who have demonstrated that an infantry unit can be professional enough to accept diversity, to accept capable leaders, to accept skilled soldiers.
My subordinates know I'm gay. They don't care. They are professional.
Further, they are respectable infantrymen who work as a team. Many told me that they respect me even more because I trusted them enough to let them know the truth. Trust is the foundation of unit cohesion.
After I publicly announced that I am gay, I reported for training and led rifle marksmanship. I ordered hundreds of soldiers to fire live rounds and qualify on their weapons. I qualified on my own weapon. I showered after training and slept in an open bay with 40 other infantrymen. I cannot understand the claim that I "negatively affected good order and discipline in the New York Army National Guard." I refuse to accept this statement as true.
As an infantry officer, I am not accustomed to begging. But I beg you today: Do not fire me. Do not fire me because my soldiers are more than a unit or a fighting force - we are a family and we support each other. We should not learn that honesty and courage leads to punishment and insult. Their professionalism should not be rewarded with losing their leader. I understand if you must fire me, but please do not discredit and insult my soldiers for their professionalism.
When I was commissioned I was told that I serve at the pleasure of the President. I hope I have not displeased anyone by my honesty. I love my job. I want to deploy and continue to serve with the unit I respect and admire. I want to continue to serve our country because of everything it stands for.
Please do not wait to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Please do not fire me.
Very Respectfully,
Daniel W. Choi
1LT, IN
New York Army National Guard
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I'm not a big fan of gays (e.g., Perez Hilton), but I have to agree with the man – being fired for being honest smacks of BS all the way down… If anything, he was more commendable for being honest, and being professional. There are no accusations of fraternization or conduct unbecoming, so ultimately, this IS a discrimination case, even with the bit about serving at the President's whim. I doubt the President gives a D one way or the other… (And as a Dem, shouldn't he be LESS interested in discriminating…?)
This man seems to be a patriotic and honest individual. But the military is no place for someone who wishes to openly declare their homosexuality. This is detrimental to the cohesiveness of the military as a whole. If "Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed, it will cause havoc and confusion in the type of itimate (no privacy), stressful situations under which our military personnel have to function. This is not about individuals, it is about what is best for the defense of our country as a whole. Open homosexuality will result in distrust and instability in the relationships between soldiers, and corruption of the command structure.
Homosexuality introduces an element of sexual tension that will result in breakdown of military discipline. While honesty in other situations is commendable, if an individual wants
to announce that they are homosexual openly, it means they are looking for some way to act on that expressed orientation. We have many places in government where someone with the expertise of Daniel Choi can honorably serve their country. The military is not one of those places.
I'm sorry, but what a load of crap. If you are honest to your coworkers, church members, or neighbors about being straight are you "looking for some way to act on that expressed orientation" that includes making inappropriate advances or engaging in inappropriate behavior? Why in the world would you assume that someone who is honest about who they are is planning to act on that in a way that would be inappropriate to others?
And before you say that you don't go around telling people that you're straight, answer this: Do you ever mention a husband or boyfriend, past or present? When you were single, did you ever mention to people at work about going on a date or wishing you had a boyfriend, or simply openly admired the way that someone of the opposite sex looked? People in everyday appropriate social conversation mention things that divulge their sexual orientation all the time. To allow heterosexuals the option of this level of casual conversation but expect homosexuals to behave as if they have no personal relationships, no desire for a personal relationship, or even that they consider some celebrity to be cute, and expect instead for them to lie or stay silent about those things, even as everyone around them is bonding in their military family by sharing these sorts of stories, is expecting a level of dishonesty from our military that is inconsistent with military cohesion and the personal emotional health of the soldier.
What it really comes down to is that serving with a person is gay simply makes some people uncomfortable, but I'm sorry, those people need to just get over themselves. Most people in the military have knowingly or unknowingly served closely with someone who is gay with zero negative effects to them personally or to the cohesion and effectiveness of their unity. Prejudice has no place in our military. The military was, for many people in our country for many decades now, the first time that many folks ever worked and lived closely with someone of another race, religious, culture or class. Before serving , they may have assumed certain negative stereotypes about working with a black person, or a Jew, or someone from Appalachia, or a middle-class white Christian for that matter. But if you are serving our country, you lose your right to indulge in the prejudices that may have affected your choices as a civilian. You work as a team with your unit, regardless of who they are, and that person is required to do the same. You defend our country, despite whatever flaws you perceive it to have. And you defend and respect our allies even if their belief system and way of life is outside your personal experiences and makes you uncomfortable because of your pre-conceived notions of what "those types" of people are like.
And what of the 2,923 reports of sexual assaults among active duty U.S. troops worldwide in 2008, up from 2,688 reported in 2007? While there may be a few same-sex assaults in those statistics, you can be confident that the overwhelming majority of those are men assaulting women. Is your solution to go back to the day when women aren't allowed to serve their country because it would be "detrimental to the cohesiveness of the military as a whole"? The problem isn't that women are serving in the military, the problem is that some people are behaving in ways that are inconsistent with being in our country's military, period. Inappropriate homosexual behavior could and should be treated no differently than inappropriate heterosexual behavior.
As the very proud daughter of a retired career military officer who grew up knowing no other way than the military and who feels blessed that because of the military I was exposed to things, both in our extremely diverse base neighborhoods and in our host countries, that I would never have experienced otherwise, and I am a far better person for it. I am extremely proud that my father is now an outspoken advocate against DADT because he knows very well that forcing homosexuals who wish to serve their country to lie about who they are is the real issue that affects both honor, behavior, and unit cohesiveness.