Today's Out Spotlight is on Lt. Dan Choi and the organization Knight's Out. Choi, West Point graduate and gay Arabic-speaking linguist was discharged from the Army National Guard under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy after coming out earlier in the spring on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow's show.
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He received a letter informing him of his dismissal, which read in part: "You admittedly publicly that you are a homosexual, which constitutes homosexual conduct … Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard."
In a letter to the president, Lt. Dan Choi said the discharge letter, dated April 23, 2009, was "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," he said. "They are professional.
"As an infantry officer, I am not accustomed to begging. But I beg you today: Do not fire me,"
It took him only 30 minutes after receiving the letter to decide: "I'm fighting this."
There have been over 12,500 service men and women who have been dismissed because of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy of the US Armed Forces. There are currently 65,000 men and women in the military serving in silence.
Choi is a co-founder of the group Knight's Out. Knight's Out is is an organization of OUT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) West Point Alumni, along with our Straight West Point Alumni, Staff, and Faculty counterparts, who are united in supporting the rights of LGBT soldiers to openly serve their country. Right now Knights out has 115 members, 68 OUT Knights, and 308 straight allies.
Their OUT members include former West Point professors, Rhodes Scholars, decorated combat veterans from the Vietnam War, Iraq and Afghanistan, peacekeepers who served in Haiti and Bosnia, men and women from the first co-ed class (1980), an ordained minister, and many others, coming out from their silence to serve their country in a new way.Their OUT members represent over 340 years of Active Duty military service to our country.
Members have served in all combat branches: Infantry, Armor, and Field Artillery, as well as Air Defense Artillery, Aviation, Corps of Engineers, Transportation Corps, Military Intelligence, Medical Service Corps, Military Police, Ordnance, Public Affairs, Adjutant General's Corps, and Quartermasters Corps Their members have achieved the ranks of 1LT, CPT, MAJ, LTC, COL, and Brigadier General. They represent Alumni from the Class of 1947 to Class of 2005.Their ranks include men and women, at an almost 1 to 1 ratio.
The mission of Knights Out is threefold: To advocate for the rights of LGBT soldiers to openly serve their country. To prepare West Point graduates and cadets to lead in a military where LGBT soldiers are allowed to serve openly. To be role models and leaders for LGBT soldiers living under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, by speaking out when they must be silent.
Knights Out as the first West Point Alumni Contingent to marches in the San Francisco Gay Pride parade on June 28th. Knights Out co-founder 1LT Dan Choi will be a celebrity Grand Marshall.
Knights Out.org
