Following Don't Ask, Don't Tell

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" or DADT, a policy put into effect in the Clinton administration, has made the many LGBT men and women fighting in our military both invisible and expendable. Since the inauguration of President in Obama alone, the military has lost 265 gay men and women to this policy, and the policy remains unchanged. Between 1994 and 2006, more than 11,000 people had been discharged from the military under this policy.

Recently, Lt. Dan Choi has recently become the face of the war against DADT, being both an outspoken person of color and LGBT representative.

The California Progress Report writes:

Lt. Dan Choi on Tuesday faces a hearing to determine whether he will be kicked out of the military due to his violation of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy." This despite the fact that he has willingly and proudly served his nation with honor. This despite the fact that he has the rare skill of speaking fluent Arabic. On Friday night, he was in Davis to campaign for his friend and classmate from West Point, Anthony Woods who is running for Congress in the 10th Congressional District.

According to Lt. Choi, for him this is an issue of honor and integrity. Lt. Dan Choi said, “I graduated from West Point, we learned that a cadet would not. It had nothing to do with your orientation, it does not say that a straight cadet would not lie, but a gay cadet must lie. So that kind of dissonance we don't deal with. There's a zero tolerance policy, there's not compromise on that. So those things don't change. A West Point cadet and graduate has a certain level of character, certain level of man and woman. We don't put up with it, we don't say it's okay for our government to discriminate. That was the little piece of sand that was creating the friction that created the pearl that we see today.”

Read all about Lt. Dan Choi and DADT after the jump