Tonight Lt. Dan Choi continues the campaign for equality and against the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy, Jr Forum. The event at 6PM EDT will be web-streamed and is titled "Truth or Consequences: One Man's Quest to Openly Serve His Country."
As many of you probably know Lt. Dan Choi is a member of the U.S. Army reserves who has previously served in Iraq. He is an Arabic translator, a skill set desperately needed in our military today. He's also in the process of being discharged from military service. Why? Because he had the audacity to announce on the Rachel Maddow Show last year that he is gay. Since that moment, Choi has been actively working to end the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, speaking out against the policy numerous times in the media and, more recently, engaging in acts of civil disobedience to bring attention to our military's shameful anti-gay policy. Despite his arrest, despite harsh criticism from opponents and gradualist/incrementalist "allies," at a recent speech at Texas A&M University, Choi defiantly declared
I am still standing. I am still speaking up. I am still telling the truth about who I am. I am still proud of who I am. I am still speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. And let there be no doubt, I AM STILL GAY.
I will be live blogging the event tonight below.
Charlie Clemons welcoming people to the forum and introducing Lt. Dan Choi. Choi on the dais with Clemons. Clemons giving a short bio of Choi. Clemons points out that since Choi came out, 38 fellow West Point graduates have also come out. He continues about the consequences of DADT. Talks about how Taps is played at military funeral, but at a recent one in Arlington, they used a recorded version instead of a real bugler. Reason: over 100 musicians had been discharged for being gay and they didn't have enough.
Choi now speaking. He opens with a statement similar to his opening at A&M ending with the statement that he is still gay.
Choi is opening his speech with a story from his service in Iraq. He and his unit thought they were in a Sunni area of Baghdad, when it became apparent they were not. (Here is the same story as he told it at Texas A&M. Including it here because I can't type that fast.)
Choi recalled a day when he and his unit were in a humvee in south Baghdad and they started to hear what they initially thought was a call to prayer from the minaret of the mosque. Choi's gunner tapped him on the shoulder, dismayed that what they heard though was quite different than the call to prayers. It wasn't a call to prayer, it was a Shia political speech. Choi and his unit didn't even know it was a Shia area, but thanks to Choi's skill and training in Arabic, he was able to understand the speech, know it was a Shia speak and his unit could adjust accordingly.
But the deeper meaning behind the speech being delivered by loud speaker from the minaret resonated with Choi. He explained that for decades, perhaps centuries in the area,
Nobody would ever proclaim who they are, especially if they are Shia. See they were discriminated against throughout their entire existence. They were called heretics. They were called less than, and worse than infidels. They were going to go to hell because of who they are and what they believe about themselves. It was so rampant, that discrimination, that some of the Shia leaders, these Ayatollahs and these tribal leaders, informed and trained their people. They say, 'I know you're Shia and we're proud of who we are but if its ever a condition where you are threatened with your life or you might lose your job, or for the sake of political expediency, when it is comfortable for you, you can lie about who you are. You don't have to say you are Shia. God will forgive you. Better that you live, that you survive, that you prosper than to admit that.' God will be OK with this...
For me, when I was in Iraq, our mission was very simple. One of the parts of our mission was to increase the ability of the Iraqi people to have their own government. So while we were here preaching about democracy, transparency, equal rights for all groups in Iraq, whether you're Shia or Sunni, I couldn't help but feel like such a hypocrite because I was hiding something deep down inside myself. I could talk about democracy and transparency and being proud of who you are, but I was hiding. I could die at any moment in the triangle of death. I was hiding something. We could have been blown up at any second by a road side bomb or an RPG, but I was hiding something. Sharing intimate details with the people on my left and my right, men and women, but I was hiding something deep down inside. When I would go infront of these tribal leaders, and they would love to see this Asian guy...speaking Arabic. Once they got over the fact they thought I was a spy for North Korea, they'd say 'wow, this guy can speak some Arabic.'
I wanted to share with them their own cultural message: The most famous poem in all the Middle East and all of North Africa, written by al-Mutanabbi. (reciting poem in Arabic, then translating into English) 'The horse and the night and the sands of the desert, they know who I am. They know me. The sword and the spear, the pen and scroll, they know who I am. They know me. I am the one that can make the blind to read my poetry. I am the one that can make the deaf to hear my prose. They know me.' There is no reason to be ashamed because that poem was a great poem of identity. Never be ashamed of who you are. They know you. Never hide. But I had to hide.
Continuing discussing the perniciousness of DADT: "This is the only law in the united States that enforces shame." Talking about the affects on partners and how they are treated. His statement on this from the A&M speech:
you have to think what does Don't Ask, Don't Tell do, particularly to partners. Because right now, tonight, there is a gay or lesbian partner whose worried sick about their deployed soldier overseas. They don't know if they are going to get that phone call tonight. They have been getting that phone call or email to know they are OK, but if they don't get that phone call tonight, than what do they think? Is my loved one going to die. And if they do die, they won't be notified. They won't get that phone call. They won't get that respect, that common courtesy.
He is talking about his father, who was a Southern Baptist minister and his mother, who is a nurse in a maternity ward, and how he once thought DADT was an easy way to hide without having to ever tell his parents he is gay. He talked about coming out to her to stop her from asking him about marrying a Korean girl. Choi talked about praying the gay away. Choi talked about praying for a boner for Michelle Pfiefer, and his mother's response that he should have prayed for a Korean girl. He came out to his father as his father sat down at the kitchen table. Upon hearing this, Choi joked he stood right back up asking "Since when?!" Choi continued that he'd marry a Korean girl for his mother if on the invitations she had printed, this marriage is a lie in English, Korean, Spanish and Arabic (to which his mother replied "Why you invite Arabs to the wedding?"). Choi talked about living with them for six months after coming out and slowly working on his parents, working to get them to accept him as gay. He joked about one morning when he sat them down at the kitchen table and asked them "What do you want for breakfast and what do you think about me being gay?" He had to fight the battle with his father over homosexuality being the worst sin and how that was in contrast to the sermons he heard his father deliver growing up. "God made you gay, God made you Lesbian, God made you bisexual, God made you transgendered."
Talking about the lessons of Christ being a troublemaker, breaking the traditions of his people and how he was crucified for that after being betrayed by his own people. Says King's memory is dishonored if we only whittle it down to just a sound bite. Talking about King's acts of civil disobedience. Choi citing King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail and the part about the white moderate. The goal of acts of civil disobedience are political change in the short run. Asking Obama to speak out and put pressure on DADT repeal, asking to include it in the Defense bill. The second aim of civil disobedience, often overlooked because less tangible, is the reclaiming of dignity on an individual level.
Talking about gays in comfortable positions scoffing at the those engaging in civil disobedience and how their position doesn't provide real dignity. Talking about how they complain when the tension created by civil disobedience causes a threat to the comfort they enjoy. Talking about the everyday experiences gays and lesbians can't have because of these tensions, but it is best illustrated by the treatment of partners of GLBT service members.
This is the similar statement he made on this point at Texas A&M, which he is repeating here:
[W]hat does it mean when the flag draped coffin comes back from overseas. What does that mean when we see those images? And a general takes the folded flag and on bended knee and give it to that partner and says 'On behalf of a grateful nation, we honor and respect you and your service member for all of their sacrifice. We honor that. We're grateful for that.' So what does that mean when that does not happen? That is the message? The message is absolutely clear. Even though you were there for this soldier, supported this soldier and helped this soldier and helped this soldier to grow, we don't care who you are. It not just the solder who has to live in shame, but it is the partner has to live in non-existence. Even though all the sacrifices you have made for your soldier, we don't care because to us, you don't get dignity. Your first name is faggot. Your middle name is cocksucker. Four first name is dyke. Your middle name is bitch. And the message is very clear: Faggot, fuck you. We're not grateful for who the fuck you are. That dignity, its not there for you. and the commitment of the Veterans Affairs to take care of the families of those who sacrifice for our country doesn't extend to you. We don't care about sacrifices you've made.
He continues: There is little wonder why GLBT teens attempt suicide at a 9 times greater rate than their peers. There is little wonder why GLBT commit suicide at a 4 times greater rate than their peers. There is little wonder why half of all homeless teens living on the street are GLBT.
Getting the crowd involved to chant I deserve full equality.
Quoting Ephesians to dress one's self in the armor of justice.
Choi says he stands on the shoulders of those that came before him, the West Point honor code, the promises of God.
They may try to silence me, but I will stand. They may try to censor me, but I will stand. They may try to get me to sit down, but I will stand. I will stand because I am somebody.
Choi is finished with his speech, and they are now introducing the Q&A portion.
In answering a question about whether it is more important to pressure our political leaders or the general public. He answers both and goes into detail of why we need both. Asking Obama again to include it in the Defense bill.
Now asked why he came out when he did, when his country most needed him. He explains yes,, his mother was a big part of the reason, but another was that he found love for the first time and for the first time in his life he realized just how wrong DADT was and how it forced his boyfriend into non-existence. He just couldn't do it anymore after pretending and switching his partner's genders at first changing Matthew into Martha. His unit eventually didn't buy the excuses of why they couldn't meet "her" and Choi couldn't deal with doing it any more and that he had to come to terms with himself.
Next question: Asking how Get Equal works in deciding how it goes about its civil disobedience. Choi said it is an expression of love even if the victims of the disobedience don't understand that now. Says this is about an unconditional love for each other as a means of respect for our brothers. Talking about respecting those that send him hate mail.
Next question: what is the sentiment towards homosexuality and how did his unit respond. Choi never polled his unit on that, but talking about the media response and how he became a symbol as the most flaming homosexual in the military. His unit however didn't react that way. Everybody wanted to talk to him and show support. Many wrote letters of support. It was important for his unit to be able to show there support. Tells a funny story of a soldier when he was on the firing range.
Next Question: should all gays in the military follow Choi's lead (come out or get arrested in uniform)? Choi believes yes, that is it a moral imperative to engage in civil disobedience against unjust laws. Talking about Socrates disobedience and "ungentlemanly" behavior on yesteryear in the military in Revolutionary times. Says every time he says the words "I am gay" he is committing an act of civil disobedience. Now talking about being chained at White House gate in uniform and the reactions of others about that act. Talking about the uniform being a sign of protecting the Constitution.
Next question: Not all have the courage you do to come out. How would you council those that want to stay closeted for now? Choi: I contest that I have more courage. It is when we are put in certain situations, we find we have the courage. When you have no other choice, when you are backed into a wall, you will have that courage. We must agitate to the point that people are uncomfortable and they have no other choice but to support equality. Many of our political leaders have never been backed against that wall. We have to force that certain political party against a wall, we will only get tokens. They only pretend to be with use for our political support.
Last question: What is the role of non-LGBT people in not being indifferent to the LGBT equality movement? It is the same advice I'd give to GLBT people. There isn't one particular route you have to use to contribute, but you can increase awareness or push legislation depending upon your position and level of comfort and ability. If you can't lobby or aren't good at it, use twitter, facebook, or a blog, etc. use what you can that you are best with. Talking about National Equality March and how they didn't use professionals to organize it. Talking about how it doesn't cost anything to use things like facebook to create an equality group or tweet about "this is my gay friend."
Crowd applauding. Clemons at the mic again thanking Choi but wants to talk about Choi's disdain for the DOD study.. Clemons talking about the Carr Center working with the study on how to implement a repeal and the issues they are trying to deal with such as chaplains or status of forces agreements with other nations. Clemons and Choi saluting each other to end it. Live feed now cut.
I captured audio and video on my screen of this. I'll try to get it up here some how, but YouTube limits the length of clips and this works out to about 80 minutes of video and I don't want to potentially overload the bandwidth I pay for on my hosting provider. I'll try to figure something out for people that would like to see this.
[Update]
Here's the video I captured from the forum:
Part 1-Introduction
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9