Capt. James Pietrangelo and Lt. Dan Choi, outside the courtroom following their hearing.
Newsweek has published a powerful interview of LGBT activist and National Guard Lieutenant Dan Choi, made after his arrest, detention and hearing. We learn he was indeed denied the the opportunity to make a phone call during his overnight lock-up, shackled at his hands and feet for the hearing (um, overkill?). He says during lock-up, "I was called a liar by one officer; I was scoffed at by another one." He faces trial in April, his plea is below:
"I'm not guilty, I'm not ashamed, and I'm not finished."
He also has some very strong words for the supposed leaders of LGBT gay rights movement.
I think this is really an instance where I'd would highly recommend people read the entire interview before commenting, it's not long. To provide snippets is to do a disservice to the man. There's a lot of complicated context. He utilizes his Harvard education well, referencing the work of Harriet Tubmann, Gandhi, Jesus, Harvey Milk and others. To those who might say it's an overreach or pretentious, the context is these people all worked for the disenfranchised and encouraged them to seize the power for themselves to effect change against the resistance of a much larger majority. Lt. Choi is encouraging every LGBT citizen and ally to do the same.
One aspect that is brought out of the closet, is the growing civil war amongst LGBT activists. There is a growing discontent with Human Rights Campaignin particular. I was surprised to see CBS report on the riftlast week. Earlier this year, HRC head Joe Solomnese sent out a missivethat seemed to suggest there was a rather lacksadaisical attitude toward the pace of change:
I've written that we have actually covered a good deal of ground so far. But I'm not going to trot out those advances right now because I have something more relevant to say: It's not January 19, 2017.
Many in the gay community reacted with a great deal of disgust to Solomnese's implied message of "Pipe down. We've got seven years to do this." This is not the the sort of "fierce advocacy" many are looking for. It is not an advocacy group's job to tamp down their own people's anger and frustration with such tepid offerings. It also seems like particularly bad strategy to bet the goals of the LGBT movement on possibility of a second term (?) for a Democrat. Dan alludes multiple times to the sense in the LGBT community that HRC is more devoted to their lavish cocktail parties than LGBT Equality:
When I get messages from people who want to be a part of this I ask back: what are you willing to sacrifice? We are tired of being stereotyped as privileged, bourgeois elites. Is someone willing to give up their career, their relationships with powerful people, their Rolodex, or their parents' love to stand up for who they are? I'm giving up my military rank, my unit—which to me is a family—my veterans' benefits, my health care, so what are you willing to sacrifice?
And this is spot-on. He knows what he's in for, he's not believing he's going to save his own career or VA benefits, he's doing it for a greater good. He goes on to say:
When I heard Kathy Griffin was going to be a spokeswoman for Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I wondered about that. I have great respect for her as an advocate. But if [the Human Rights Campaign] thinks that having a rally at Freedom Plaza with a comedienne is the right approach, I have to wonder. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not a joking matter to me. To be at Freedom Plaza and not at the White House or Congress? Who are they trying to influence? I felt like they were just trying to speak to themselves. If that's the best the lobbying groups and HRC can do, then I don't know how these powerful groups are supposed to represent our community. Kathy Griffin and [HRC president] Joe Solmonese said they would march with me to the White House but didn’t. I feel so betrayed by them.
There has been criticism that Lt. Choi, showed--mercy!--bad manners for "crashing" the HRC event.
Somehow lost in this criticism is the question of WHY Lt. Choi HAD to "crash" the event? Why was the event not built around the most charismatic, well-know, popular, articulate and credible face of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy repeal? Is it because as some rumors have suggested, "the 'rally' itself was actually just a set piece for the filming of an episode of Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List." Was HRC invested in protesting DADT, or meeting Kathy Griffin? HRC's long history of being star-struck does little to make those rumors seem implausible. It seems to many their priorities need some adjusting.
I like Kathy, and think her heart is in the right place for our community, but agree with Dan, why did HRC select a comedienne to be the public face? Miss Griffin proved herself in the week to be a loose cannon and an embarrassment in the headlines, who repeatedly put her foot in her mouth. Which is entirely consistent with everything she's ever done. I don't blame Kathy for being Kathy. I blame HRC for bringing her onboard. Who thinks someone who famously told "Jesus to suck it,"is an appropriate public face for a sensitive and potentially explosive policy matter?
Reports were that HRC's offices were on lockdown after Dan's protest, afraid they were going to be the target of a sit-in. I think maybe it's a good sign you've lost your way as an advocacy group when you begin to fear the same people you are supposedly working for.
Unfortunately, all this drama has distracted much of the media from the real story about strategy for repeal. Now that nearly everyone who's not a card-carrying teabagger agrees it needs to go, how do we go about doing it?
We have in the House Barney Frank and in the Senate Harry Reid, wringing their hands and saying, "Well, we don't know what the White House wants. We don't know what the Pentagon wants..." We have only silence coming from the White House on strategy and timeline. Lt. Choi is talking real strategy here, a topic many people just don't seem to want to entertain:
We all know the political reality now. The only way for the repeal to go through is for the president to take leadership and put it in the Defense Authorization Bill. There's a sunset on this, and it's happening quickly. Obama told us at the HRC dinner last year, you need to put pressure on me. I was there at that dinner, in uniform. So this is my mission; the president said to pressure him and I heard that as a warning order.
For the record, the transcript of his Human Rights Campaign dinner speechshows Obama told the LGBT community:
"And that's why it's so important that you continue to speak out, that you continue to set an example, that you continue to pressure leaders -- including me -- and to make the case all across America."
So Lt. Choi is merely answering President Obama's call from last June to keep the pressure on. I don't think it's out of line for the LGBT community to be asking the President to go to bat for this in a manner that he did health care reform. We saw him twisting arms one-on-one with Democrats for the legislation. It is in his power to call the Senate Armed Services committee and explain to them, as he said in the State of the Union speech, "It's the right thing to do." It is in his power to call the Democrats of that committee and explain repealing "Don't ask, don't tell" is a promise he made, is a promise the Democratic party has made, and the time is now to deliver if they are to have any continued credibility with the LGBT community.
I think too, there is a realistic recognition that the LGBT community cannot whip this vote on our own. Sen. Claire McCaskill is not among the just 25 sponsors of DADT repeal, search for s.3065 here, introduced March 3, and Dan Choi has lent his voice to calling her out specifically on it:
Senator Claire McCaskill: We call on you to co-sponsor the “Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010,” the Senate bill co-sponsored by Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. Carl Levin that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee — the critical legislative body that will determine the fate of repealing DADT — your co-sponsorhip is crucial to this bill’s final passage.
I considered her to be one of the softer votes on the Senate Armed Services Committtee. I fear if we're having trouble getting her vote, we'll never get the two Nelsons, Byrd and Webb. And I don't think any smart strategy includes the expectation of any GOP votes. Sure, Brown and Collins may be gettable, but then, committee votes often fly under the radar, and they may stick with the party platform, dressing up their no votes as, "Not the right time," which seems to be a position many people do not seem to find objectionable.
Lt. Choi is leading from the power base that he commands. In an environment where there's a lot of finger-pointing about who's responsible, Dan's opening the negotiation process, his message, "Full repeal, right now." Our community is still waiting to hear the counter-offer. If not now, when?
Update 1: A commenter asked how they might help Choi, inquired about legal fees. Choi is being represented, like many, many DADT investigation subjects by The Servicemember's Legal Defense Network. They provide legal representation and work and lobby on behalf of LGBT service members and are a good organization worthy of support. If you follow the link, there is a donations page and a wealth of information and links, that you may find informative and interesting. They also have many tools to make it easy to send messages to your congressperson, email list your friends to do the same.
And clearly the best way to help Choi, is not so directly as giving him money (he's probably doing ok), but to rally to his cause. Call your Senators and your House Reps and let them know this issue matters to you. The House has 191 co-sponors, and Tammy Baldwin has said the votes are there (see indieemopant's diary). But, you never can tell, as you know. Besides, no harm reinforcing a "yes" vote, sometimes reps get cold feet.
Update 2: I am chagrined to admit, I overlooked the organization Choi helped found, Knights Out,as a possible conduit for donations and expressions of goodwill. It is a group of West Point graduates opposing the military's DADT policy, and duh, an excellent place to donate. Thank you, JesseCW for reminding me.
Also, Choi's protest event was co-ordinated with GetEQUAL, a nascent LGBT group that seems to be channeling the desire of many toward more direct action, and there are hints and rumors of pending civil disobedience actions.