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“To be in the presence of hundreds of thousands of people who care as much as you do about freedom is life changing. There are many things I experienced in D.C. that I will carry with me forever, including a strengthened determination to carry on and see through our fight in Texas. One moment, however, will always stand out, and with all of the pre-march excitement, I wonder if only two of us can bear witness to it: As we waited with the Texas contingent for the march to start, several of us grew tired of standing and opted to sit in the grass. In the middle of much chatter and excitement my friend tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the sky. A rainbow was clearly visible in the rays of the sun. I thought to myself, this movement really is huge; even the sky is calling out for equality! I will never forget that moment.” — Daniel Cates
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“If there is something I learned this weekend that I know will help me grow as a leader it is that advocacy is the key to change. And change starts with courage. If we don’t have the courage to speak up and ask for equality, then we will never get it. Silence is not an option anymore. Silence is not enough. We need to start speaking up, educating people, and asking for what we want. Otherwise, we will never get it. If we want equality then we better go out there and get it!” — Vic Rodriguez
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“If I didn’t know who I was or what I stood for when I went to Washington, I definitely knew when I left the National Mall on Sunday evening. Words can not express my gratitude to two wonderful people, Dante Walkup and Mark Reed, who made it possible for me to experience something that was greater than myself. The generosity of these two people is unparalleled to anything that I have ever experienced in my short 27 years on this planet. I have never been more proud to be a black, gay, American man. I know that this is only the beginning of our work, and I am 100 percent dedicated to the cause. Even if I don’t get to reap the benefits of our struggle when they are awarded to us, there is a nameless face out there that will, and it will be worth the pain we endured.” — Cedric Greenwood
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“I spent most of the weekend documenting the events and people that were at the march for my documentary, “March On,” and as the event historian. I witnessed Lt. Dan Choi kissing his boyfriend at Arlington Cemetery in full uniform in front of hundreds of people. I heard peoples’ stories of discrimination as they fought back tears. On the day of the march, I was rushing from a press conference to the end of the march so I could start filming. As I sat in the cab I had my first moment to myself in days. I realized that this march was huge. There is a generation of people that have not been born that will see what I am documenting and I realized that I have an obligation to the people that shared their stories and to the people that are marching. It was a humbling experience and one that I will not soon forget.” — Laura McFerrin
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“Eventually I will pay off my credit card. In the long run, I won’t remember the hours I worked in my part-time job to earn the money. However, when equality finally comes to America and I am able to marry the woman I will love, when I don’t have to be afraid of what will happen if my employer ‘finds out’ that I am a lesbian, when I am finally extended the full rights and privileges that are endowed upon every American citizen, I will remember turning the corner on Pennsylvania Avenue, the gorgeous Capitol building rising up in the distance, and looking across a sea of rainbows, signs, banners and fists, at my LGBTQ brothers and sisters and allies passionately fighting for equality in 2009. That memory is, as they say, priceless.” — Elizabeth Pax
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“Queer LiberAction along with the Gay Liberation Network from Chicago staged a protest outside of HRC’s annual black-tie fundraising gala where [President] Obama was set to speak. We were sick and tired of being treated as the playthings of the Democratic Party and we weren’t going to have more rosey rhetoric crammed down our throats over wine and cheese. We went to D.C. to place pressure on our elected officials and illustrate how Obama has thus far faltered on all of his promises made to us during his campaign. From the streets we were demanding that Obama be a ‘fierce advocate’ to our community. This means more than reiterating empty promises already made to our community. If Obama was serious about LGBT equality then he would have taken the opportunity on HRC’s largest annual event to explicitly lay down a road map as to how he is going to actively advocate for and advance our civil rights movement. It was disappointing to see the standing ovations and cheers by A-list gays when these ‘kind’ words were delivered.” — Blake Wilkinson
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“… Probably the most memorable moment for me was while boarding the airplane back to Dallas, I received a call from Stacey Simmons, a person whom I worked closely with on Facebook and Twitter promoting the march. She is Robin McGehee’s girlfriend and they had a message on their hotel room phone from a teenager from Toronto. The message was similar to one Harvey Milk received a day after being elected from a kid from Altoona, Pa. The caller wanted to thank Robin for all her efforts for organizing the march and how he now had hope for things to be different and society to change. After three suicide attempts, he’s no longer trying to take his life. Milk’s famous quote was, ‘You have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right.’ This march gave him hope!” — Mark Reed
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition October 16, 2009.
So far as I’m concerned, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a silly policy that has caused the military no end of unnecessary headaches. In today’s Army, where Soldiers are expected to respect the cultural values of drug dealing warlords who keep children as sex slaves, the idea that the men and women of the military aren’t mature enough to handle serving alongside openly gay service members is nonsense. I’ve known a few gay Soldiers who were good guys, and their sexuality had little or no affect on unit morale and cohesion. No one really cared what they did in their private lives, and I always felt bad for them for having to try and skirt the issue of their personal lives in the professional environment.
That said, I draw a huge line of distinction between the kind of Soldiers I served with and Soldiers who actively seek out discharge to make political statements. 1LT Choi wasn’t awkwardly found out and removed against his will. His military service was less important to him then his politics, and he decided to have himself removed to draw attention to the situation he sought to bring onto himself.
The problem with 1LT Choi isn’t who he is, it’s his decision to announce it. He’s well within his rights under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to speak out against the policy publicly, and to attend or lead gay advocacy protests. What he can’t do is publicly reveal his sexuality. It’s a dumb policy. It’s also current policy, and a Soldier has no place ignoring or willfully breaking military law because they don’t like it and don’t think it should apply to them. If 1LT Choi didn’t feel he could live within the constraints of military regulations and laws, he never should have sworn an oath to do so. He’s not unfit to serve because he’s gay. He’s unfit to serve because he found his personal life important enough to betray the commitment he made to the American people to lead Soldiers. His motives don’t forgive the consequences of his actions.
There are few things as dangerous to military readiness as a Soldier who disregards laws and orders because he doesn’t like them. I feel exactly the same about 1LT Choi’s performance as I would if he had put on the uniform and campaigned for a politician, or got on TV to announce he was sleeping with an enlisted Soldier. He isn’t someone who slipped up or made an accidental mistake. He scheduled a TV interview on a popular news program to draw as much attention as possible to himself as he disregarded military regulations and broke his commitment to the Army. Now he is advocating his politics at rallies in a uniform dirtied with props, a highly inappropriate violation of several military regulations. If I had a leader with his apparent priorities and poor conduct it would severely degrade my morale and faith in his abilities.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is going to be changed, and I have no problem with that. Every Soldier and Marine I’ve discussed the issue with has the same story about serving with gays who conducted themselves with the proper military bearing. 1LT Choi has not carried himself in this manner. When the day comes that this policy is changed, I very much hope that our politicians have the wisdom to try to improve the military for gay service members while simultaneously protecting it from those who have clearly shown the inability to commit to the requirements of military life. I hope that it’s stipulated that service members who have behaved as 1LT Choi has are barred from ever reentering the military.
I think the March was so successful we should have them every month. When we get enough people marching every month the government will give us our rights.
Each month we would probably get 50,000 more people. People would notice us and it would make a huge difference.
Daniel – God sent his blessing to the March. Things ARE changing. People need to come out and be visible. They need to demand respect in order to get our full legal protections.
“I hope that it’s stipulated that service members who have behaved as 1LT Choi has are barred from ever reentering the military.”
That’s a pretty nasty thing to say, Bandit. I understand the point you are trying to make and agree with you to some extent. But where would you draw the line? I came out to my commander – not on national television as 1LT Choi did – but through a letter I presented to him personally and quietly. Do you believe that anyone who came out voluntarily should be barred from future service? What criteria would you suggest for establishing who “behaved as 1LT Choi has”?
I didn’t want to make a political statement when I came out, but it was something I felt I had to do with the situation I was facing at the time. In our current political climate every time a LGBT person comes out against a law such as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” it is a political statement.
You make some good points in your post, but you won’t be the one writing the bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” That will be left up to politicians, only some of whom have served in the military, none of whom have been discharged under DADT, and nearly all of whom will be looking to get reelected. That’s a risky proposition.
Thank you for participating in the discussion, but we should be careful what we ask for ’cause we just might get it.
My most memorable part of the march weekend was the memorial to Leonard Matlovich at Congressional Cemetery where a protest over DADT was held as well. It was very enlightening to see and hear from the soldiers that have been directly affected by this discriminatory military policy. We need to end the witch hunt against our gay and lesbian soldiers. Especially when they are needed now more than ever to combat terrorism around the world. Repealing DADT is for the good of the armed forces, keeping it is wrong…..
Pepe, based on what you admitted, I consider your actions to be a moral failure to carry out the duty you chose for yourself. Without knowing the details of your situation I can’t make as specific a judgment on you as I did about 1LT Choi, and I understand that variables such as active duty vs reserve status, serving as an officer with greater leeway to leave vs enlisted with no option to do so, etc, would likely influence the perceived need to break your commitment to the military. As I see it though, the key part of that sentence are the last six words. Whatever motives were, you still abandoned the military and your service to the American people.
Would I let you back in? As you pointed out, that’s a decision above my pay grade. The reason I feel so adamant about 1LT Choi being kicked out and kept out is the way in which he chose to have himself removed, and his actions after he did so. This isn’t some guy with a boyfriend back home who got caught making out at the movies, or even someone such as yourself who (presumably) abandoned the military quietly. 1LT Choi willfully violated an oath he swore to follow in the most public manner he could and is using his military position to make both a political point and to try to tie the hands of his chain of command as they pursue disciplinary action against him. I found his tactics shameful from the first time I heard his story. I was disgusted when I watched him walk onto the stage to give a speech about politics in a uniform he had cheapened with protest props. When he spoke he spat on our military’s noble tradition of separating itself from politics.
1LT Choi likes to talk about honor codes and honesty, but his actions don’t back up his rhetoric. Where is the honor in abandoning the Soldiers he made a commitment to lead, and where is the honesty in taking up the challenge to serve the United States only to abandon that goal to advance a pet political cause? His behavior displays a lack of integrity and a warped sense of duty to hold himself to the commitments he undertook. They also betray disloyalty to the unit he maintains knew about his sexuality and was was supporting him. I’m deeply saddened to see the overwhelmingly sympathetic media coverage of his story because I feel it is ignoring the extreme military failings 1LT Choi has displayed, and this is coming from someone who largely agrees with him about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I want him kept out of the service not just because he has violated DADT, but because the manner he chose to do it in shows he has failed to live up to the core Army values required from Soldiers.
We should March in Washington every month. It has already forced Obama into action. We should have been marching all these years – it gets results.