When I first heard about Dan Choi being arrested for handcuffing himself to the gates of the White House, my initial reaction was the usual pointless snark that is generally reserved for us writers and bloggers. I had all sorts of clever little titles made up in my head, with Dan Choi's Excellent Adventure being my personal favorite. In fact, I actually wrote an entire first draft of a piece that simply asked that first question, but then I began to think about what happened in Washington, D.C. yesterday, and the cold, hard truth about my first reaction to the news became clear as day: for all of my writing, speaking, and so-called activist behavior, I had totally forgotten what real activism was.
Let me be quite clear about one thing: what Dan Choi did yesterday was of questionable sincerity, most likely intricately plotted as to gain the most amount of press and attention, and undoubtedly will dominate the conversation going into the next Don't Ask, Don't Tell news cycle. It's big, over the top, political theater of the type that is destined to get tongues wagging about the issue once again and will definitely secure Lt. Choi's place as a major figure in gay activism. What it won't secure, however, is the title and rank that his entire public career thus far has been about retaining, which is why the behavior is simultaneously inspiring and baffling. There are some severely mixed signals here that need to be addressed.
I'm also a gay veteran, and I have recently begun to speak out about my experiences serving under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. While I have no real desire to serve in the military again, I speak out for the same reasons that other gay veterans do: because there are thousands of gay soldiers currently serving whose voices are rendered completely silent due to this policy, and if we don't speak up for them, nobody else will. It is our job to make people care, and to put a human face to the Don't Ask Don't Tell conversation, and to engage people on a more grassroots level so that they can get a good idea of the damage that the policy does. Since exploding onto the scene just under a year ago, it is arguable that Lt. Dan Choi has done this more effectively than anyone else.
That said, Choi's hard-line activism and the spectacle of this entire endeavor seems to fly in the face of his entire public profile thus far, that of a respectable (albeit guarded) military officer who wants nothing more than to be able to serve his country openly. Is this not the same soldier who just a few weeks back scored what seemed like a major victory when he was called back to training? At what point did the smiling face in the picture he tweeted from his barracks turn into the face of defiance that would handcuff himself to the gates of the White House in his military uniform, no less? At what point does the desire for attention trump the desire to serve, and which one is more heavily at play here?
This is either bold gay activism, the likes of which we haven't seen since the days of ACT UP, or it is a deafening cry for attention that just damaged the brand and credibility of one of the few real gay leaders the community has right now. Taking into account my conflicted feelings about the entire situation, I actually think that it may be both. I'm not entirely sure when it was that gays became so complacent that our idea of 'activism' is throwing gala fundraisers for the usual heterosexual celebrities who deign to be supportive of us, but however theatrical and overwrought they may be, Lt. Choi's actions seem to hearken back to an era that I've never really experienced. It's the era that Cleve Jones talks about when he reminisces about the work he did with Harvey Milk back in the 70's, the era when gay men founded ACT UP after becoming sick and tired of seeing each other dying from AIDS and getting nothing but silence from the Reagan Administration, and it's the era where LGBT people actually fought for their rights instead of waiting patiently for them.
I know that a lot of African-Americans don't like the comparison of the gay rights movement to the civil rights movement, but I happen to be Black and gay, so I'll say this: if the majority of the leaders who fought for my rights as a Black person were as complacent and easily placated as those who are allegedly fighting for my rights as a gay person, I would certainly not have had access to the opportunities and education that led me to this very point.
I could write a hundred articles, dozens of books, and speak to thousands and thousands of people at gay pride events and college campuses, but Dan Choi will always be that rock star activist that handcuffed himself to the gates of The White House. Of course Dan Choi jumped the shark, and he did it in his military uniform for all the cameras to see. You know what, though? I think what we needed was to see something like this to light a fire under each and every one of us that cares as deeply as he does about Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, and about full equality in general. This movement needs him as much as it needs me, or Jarrod Chlapowski, or Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach, or any of the other gay veterans who share our past of silent service knowing that it reflects the present of thousands of gay soldiers currently serving. Maybe it's time to act up all over again. Maybe the rumblings of this being a part of a more coordinated activist effort are true. Maybe it is time to Get Equal.
People keep wondering who's going to be the Martin Luther King of the gay rights movement, and that I still don't know, but I think yesterday's actions may have put us one step closer to finding our Malcolm X.
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And, like King, he was murdered by someone who hated him for who he was and what he stood for.
It is clear that these stunts have grown out of frustration with the major LGBT advocacy organizations, especially HRC. They, too should be held accountable. HRC has consumed +$550 million for "lobbying" Congress and yet we can't find a single Member of Congress that changed their mind/vote about LGBT-issues in HRC's 30 year history. If lobbying for LGBT-issues is effective, HRC must provide some evidence.
After more than 40 years of using the same tactics, strategies and plans, it is time to embrace accountability. In order to focus on creating a winning strategy we MUST determine the effectiveness of every method, tactic, idea, strategy and organization. Until we do so, we will just continue doing "everything" with the uninspiring goal of "one of these days." That's not good enough.
Unless GetEqual can get clear about the value of their stunts, we shouldn't support them. While civil disobedience garnered a lot of attention in the past, the world has changed in the last 40 years. We don't need more attention, we need results. We need focus. We need a cohesive strategy to win, not just "fight."
Communication has replaced "demonstration." It's 2010.
It's simple and it makes sense that those who are gay should be allowed to serve without being required to lie about their sexual orientation. This is important for national security as well, because if American military personnel are *expected* to lie to the military, that creates a secret subculture and an atmosphere of paranoia which actually has the possibility of undermining the command structure in some cases.
The risk is actually the opposite of what the retired General said. It breaks the contract of the citizen in service to their nation to bureaucratically condemn them and force them into secrecy. Regardless of this lack of respect, lots of secretly gay military service personnel are doing an exemplary job, even while they're required to deny the truth about themselves.
This could be an issue if somebody keeps making a lewd comment which is not generally agreed upon by personnel as being part of a traditional drill sergeant's profanity-laced tirade yelled in the faces of new recruits. For example, what happens if a drill sergeant calls a recruit "fruit cake" rather than "creme puff"? We'll see what happens.
If only all the gays in the military who are living hushed lives would come out
all at once in one day! That would be a very effective catalyst for change!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3nL5Jvdm0Q
Why wasn't there equal attention to the fact that the Dutch Prime Minister and top military brass suggested that our American general was delusional???
By the way, I am gay Latino if that makes a difference.
That said, are you suggesting that before gay people can demand that we are not discriminated against, we first much make sure there is not a single bigot who is also gay?
Now is the time for individual Gays to re-organize and force the military to stop its discrimination. Honestly, if we pretend that the military is a debating society, I can see why a lot of people believe we are not fit to defend anyone. But we are not these sissies hiding in the back waiting for some nice Straight hunk to rescue us. We have inalienable rights to Life and Liberty and it is time we acted that way. It is time we let the rest of America know that we have always been in the Military and we always will be there ....
OK, The Spartans were Gay -- boy were they Gaaaay!
Julius Cesar was Gay, but what about before him?
I know there was Alexander The Great and along with Lord knows how many of his army.
What about before him?
Alright, there was Gilgamesh
So just because we have had Gay military leaders for the last 6,000 years, you think that means "always." What about in the time of the Dinosaurs? Huh, name one Gay military leader in the time of the dinosaurs.
In the gay community it was no secret that gay haters and baiters in the military have been using that unjust and unfair "Don't ask, Don't tell rule" against gays and even nongays to get them kicked out of the military no matter how much their special talents and skills were needed ever since that rotten gay hating rule was implemented.
When General Sheehan recently testified before the U.S. Senate and began spouting off his dark age, homophobic tirade accusing gays of causing massacres and rape he left no doubt that there are alot of people in the military who are using this rule simply because they hate gays. Would you believe that anyone on this planet would still believe these stupid, outrageously nutty ideas about gays, of course, there is no doubt who promotes these hateful ideas and these people are called Christians.
Obama promised that he would get rid of this unjust military rule when he was elected and he could have just by signing an executive order but after 15 months into his administration he has still refused to sign this executive order and in the mean time thousands of highly qualified, talented gays in the military have been kicked out. The kind of military personnel America's military desparately needs.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR OBAMA???!!!