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Story Updated : February 09, 2010 11:19:00 AM

Dan Choi Back on Drill Duty


DAN CHOI X390 (BILERICO) | ADVOCATE.COM

Gay military rights advocate Lt. Dan Choi has been called back into drill duty, he told The Advocate in a phone interview Tuesday. Photographer Jeff Sheng, who recently turned his lens on active gay and lesbian service members for a book about "don't ask, don't tell," originally reported the news on Bilerico.com.

Choi was scheduled to appear at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference over the weekend but instead rejoined his unit. Choi said his commander called him personally, asking him to return.

Choi told The Advocate that he felt welcomed back by his fellow guardsmen in his infantry unit.

"Initially, I sensed a feeling of territorialism," he said. "They were like, 'That's right, he came back to us!'"

Even though Choi faced an Army National Guard committee in June — the board recommended he be discharged under "don't ask, don't tell" — his commanding officer was highly supportive of the Arabic translator and West Point graduate.

"The paperwork has been floating around in the Pentagon very slowly," Choi said. "Usually people wait six or seven days for their discharge. Meanwhile I'm waiting for months to hear back."

Since his hearing in June, Choi hasn't been able to perform drills with his unit — he said he's been substituting by doing those routines on the side. He has not been discharged, however. Now that he is back, he has been spending time "shooting rifles and doing all of the regular drill exercises."

"It felt good to just put away a lot of the past year," he said, also comparing his return to that of a Thanksgiving gathering. "Obviously there were soldiers following everything I was doing, or there were others who didn't have a clue."

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FILE UNDER:  DADTDan Choi

Reader Comments
  • Name: Sara
    Date posted: 4/2/2011 12:55:54 PM
    Hometown: West Palm Beach

    Comment:

    Gays are 100% abnormal, that's why they are hiding from day one, they can hide their sexuality to rest of their life, DADT is nonsense!

  • Name: Drake Pendragon
    Date posted: 1/6/2011 7:13:08 AM
    Hometown: Normal, IL

    Comment:

    This is a shame, as Dan Choi, obviously violated a known Policy of the military and proved what a worthless POS he is. As for why people don't get discharged for asking is because no one asks about who the homos are, but now we can and we can get rid of them properly using all the other articles of the UCMJ. Luckily there are no queers in my unit or we would be working on making them wish they had never joined. DADT only proved that homos wanted to use the military as a stepping stone for their social agenda and not to serve proudly like real people do, or they could have kept their lifestyle to themselves. Dan Choi proved that he is not interested in serving his country as much as serving his sexual lifestyle.

  • Name: Andrew
    Date posted: 2/13/2010 12:32:57 PM
    Hometown: Sacramento, CA

    Comment:

    About lgbtq people "taking it to work with them," the same could be said for heterosexuals. How often have we heard them basically talking about their sexuality in one way or another? And if the policy is DADT, why hasn't ANYONE ever been thrown out for ASKING? That's a violation too isn't it? It's not like EVERY gay person just can't wait to share their favorite sexual position with whichever heterosexual happens along. And we all know that straight people sometimes pry into our private lives and play semi-sadistic "cat & mouse" games with us.

  • Name: Cameron
    Date posted: 2/12/2010 10:11:53 AM
    Hometown: Salt lake City

    Comment:

    To David West: When will straight people stop the double-standard when it comes to LGBTQ people and couples? What "issues" are there if a person serves openly and true to her identity? Why is it that heteros can be open about their sexual orientation, their love life, their identity and LGBTQ people cannot? You're right, sexual orientation shouldn't matter....But it is unfair and extremely heterosexist to say that LGBTQ people should "keep it too themselves." For the last 3000 years, heteros have been permitted to flaunt their "heterosexual lifestyle," so why is it such an "issue" for LGBTQ people to now do the same (this said in the style of mainstream rhetoric). Put it another way: David, I'm calling you out on your straight privilege and asking you to consider what it is like to finally be able to live openly and honestly without socio-economic repercussions. Straight people have been "out of the closet" for millenia, can you let it be our turn now?

  • Name: SUE WINSKI
    Date posted: 2/11/2010 10:15:22 PM
    Hometown: Ubud Bali

    Comment:

    The problem of servicemen raping and sexually abusing women in the military is much greater than any problems the military has had with gays. Why doesn't the media cover this? It should be in every article that talks about DADT. The military should ban heterosexuals, they are much more dangerous!

  • Name: David West
    Date posted: 2/10/2010 9:54:44 AM
    Hometown: Columbia, SC

    Comment:

    I'm a straight male who served 4 years in the Navy from1990-1994. I knew for certain at least a half dozen people that were gay or lesbian, and I'm pretty sure the majority of people that knew them, knew it too. They did there job as well as anyone else, and that is all that matters when you're working together. Barring that percentage of people that are just hateful, no one really cared about their orientation. I can see that there could be issues with some people if it were more "open," but no one needs to take their sexuality to the workplace with them anyway. And as far as I'm concerned, the haters need to find a way to get over it.

  • Name: Lawney Baldwin
    Date posted: 2/10/2010 9:24:08 AM
    Hometown: Jonesborough, Tn.

    Comment:

    As a gay ex-sailor (59-63), everyone in my company knew I was gay. I experienced no anti-gay anything for my four year tour. My son is now in Iraq with the Tn. Guard as a 1st Lt. He hates DADT and does not support it. Congrats to you Dan. Do your duty and God speed. It will all be ok in the end.

  • Name: Diane
    Date posted: 2/10/2010 8:47:43 AM
    Hometown: La Vista

    Comment:

    As a military wife of 20+ years, I'm thrilled to see this, as is my AF husband (also a linguist). Every service member discharged for no reason than their sexuality is a loss to our nation. It's infuriating that Dan Choi did nothing illegal by joining the military, but broke their law when he *said* he was gay. DADT hurts the military not only by removing good people from our ranks, but by teaching--or reinforcing, for some--the false idea that gay people are "bad". I expect to see DADT repealed soon (not soon enough, but soon). When it is, the military will have a plan for providing benefits to gays who are married (doubtful for domestic partners, but I hope so). Then the nation's walls preventing same-sex marriage will crumble, because they can't bear the weight of "I can die for my country, but I can't marry" and "he died for his nation, but the military turned their backs on us". I'm hopeful.

  • Name: Dave
    Date posted: 2/10/2010 4:12:46 AM
    Hometown: Austin

    Comment:

    This is interesting it sugests that unofficially that reinterpretation of DADT may be further along then the Pentagon has indicated here to for. Then again as Lt Choi is more or less the face for DADT reform it may be a maneuver alter the DADT coverage in the media however the military is usually apolitical and support for reform is evident so I'm inclined to think diet DADT is heading into effect.

  • Name: Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
    Date posted: 2/10/2010 4:07:18 AM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    AAARRGGG! Dan is NOT being "reactivated," "rejoining," whatever! He never LEFT the military because the recommendation that he be discharged is still going through appeal channels. NOR is he "on active duty." He has been in the New York National Guard since 2008 after completing Army "active duty"; a "weekend warrior" as the expression goes; and this training, lasting only a few days, was the kind of periodic drill NG members participate in. It's great that his Commander invited him back last week after missing some drills in the past, but it has absolutely NO national significance, and Dan is now back to what he was doing the week before: fighting the ban, speaking wherever and whenever he wishes. That he did participate successfully is more proof that opposition to out gays serving is just a Big Lie, as is the continued full-time active duty that Victor Fehrenbach has continued on in the Air Force since he was outed over a year ago. He's appealed his discharge recommendation, too.

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