This will be a busy couple of days for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. 1Lt. Dan Choi appeared briefly on CNN this morning to talk about the recent Gay Pride Parade in San Fransisco and the ongoing battle with President Obama over the ban.
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, who is scheduled to be fired from the Air Force later this year for being one of The Homosexuals, will be accompanying the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network to the hastily thrown together White House cocktail party to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Stars and Stripes reports that Lt. Col. Fehrenbach will be in uniform tonight and hopes to appeal to President Obama directly.
Then tomorrow, Lt. Choi will appear before his discharge board. There are two things you can do to help Lt. Choi.
First, you can send a letter to the discharge board attesting to his character. According to Lt. Choi, “Our case (and future appeals if I do get fired) requires testimony from people who can attest to my character/abilities. ANYONE who believes I should be retained (for whatever reason) or feels the army is better off keeping me can write a statement. It will be included in the official archive for my future cases as well.”
A sample letter is provided at Lt. Choi’s site, but you can write anything you want. Action is needed on this one NOW. Scanned copies of the signed letter need to be emailed to Lt. Choi TODAY.
Second, you can pray for Lt. Choi. The odds are stacked against him. There are no known cases of a discharge board retaining a DADT-accused soldier, so unless President Obama issues an executive order today (don’t hold your breath) or the board breaks entirely with precedent, Choi will be out of a job by this time tomorrow.
Lt. Choi has begun to emerge as a powerful new voice for the LGBT community. Both he and Lt. Col. Fehrenbach have chosen to be open about their struggle for equality and justice, and they’re both about to take one on the chin for the rest of us. I invite you to remember their current sacrifices.
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