Tag: obama

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Obama To Talk About Gays In The Military In State of the Union Address

President Barack Obama is expected to talk about the "Don't ask, don't tell" rule that bars openly gay Americans from serving in the military during his State of the Union address this week, a senior lawmaker said on Monday. During his 2008 campaign for the presidency, Obama vowed to end the rule discriminating against gays and he renewed that pledge in a speech last year. "We were told by the Pentagon that they expected the president to say something in the State of the Union on it," said Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, referring to the speech Obama will deliver on Wednesday evening to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. But Levin added: "I have no idea" what Obama will say. The rule, which dates to the presidency of Bill Clinton, requires homosexuals to keep quiet about their true sexual orientation if they want to be in the U.S. military. It also stops recruiters or commanders from asking members of the armed forces whether they are gay. It was a compromise signed into law by Clinton in 1993 after the military objected to his calls for welcoming openly gay Americans into their ranks. Levin, a Democrat, is among members of Congress who favor ending the policy and allowing gays to serve openly in military ranks. Levin plans to hold a hearing of his committee on the policy by early February, he told reporters on Capitol Hill. He had considered holding the hearing in late January, but the Obama administration asked him to hold off until after the State of the Union speech. In his speech at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Obama will lay out the challenges and set the tone for his administration in 2010. Critics charge that having gays openly serve in the military would undermine morale and discipline. Any such proposal from Obama is likely to be controversial. Some key lawmakers oppose repealing the ban, including House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, Levin's counterpart. Gay rights advocates have accused Obama of dragging his feet about keeping a campaign pledge. (Reporting by Rutgers)

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Obama Signs The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Act

President Barack Obama said Friday the U.S. will overturn a 22-year-old travel and immigration ban against people with HIV early next year. The order will be finalized on Monday, Obama said, completing a process begun during the Bush administration. The U.S. has been among a dozen countries that bar entry to travelers with visas or anyone seeking a green card based on their HIV status. "If we want to be the global leader in combatting HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it," Obama said at the White House before signing a bill to extend the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program. Begun in 1990, the program provides medical care, medication and support services to about half a million people, most of them low-income. The bill is named for an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion at age 13. White went on to fight AIDS-related discrimination against him and others like him and help educate the country about the disease. He died in April 1990 at the age of 18.

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His mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, attended the signing ceremony, as did several members of Congress and HIV/AIDS activists. In 1987, at a time of widespread fear and ignorance about HIV, the Department of Health and Human Services added the disease to the list of communicable diseases that disqualified a person from entering the U.S. The department tried in 1991 to reverse its decision but was opposed by Congress, which went the other way two years later and made HIV infection the only medical condition explicitly listed under immigration law as grounds for inadmissibility to the U.S. The law effectively has kept out thousands of students, tourists and refugees and has complicated the adoption of children with HIV. No major international AIDS conference has been held in the U.S. since 1993, because HIV-positive activists and researchers cannot enter the country. Obama said that by lifting the ban, the U.S. will take a step toward ending the stigma against people with HIV/AIDS, something he said has stopped people from getting tested and has helped spread the disease. More than 1 million people live with HIV/AIDS in the U.S., and more than 56,000 new infections are reported every year. Obama noted his own effort several years ago to help combat the stigma. During a 2006 visit to Kenya, his father's native country, then-Sen. Obama and his wife, Michelle, publicly took an HIV/AIDS test. The 11 other countries that ban HIV-positive travelers and immigrants are: Armenia, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Sudan, according to the advocacy group Immigration Equality. Several such groups welcomed Obama's announcement. Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, said the ban pointlessly has barred people from the U.S. and separated families with no benefit to public health. "Now, those families can be reunited, and the United States can put its mouth where its money is: ending the stigma that perpetuates HIV transmission, supporting science and welcoming those who seek to build a life in this country," said Tiven, whose organization works for fairness in immigration for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive people.

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Obama Signs Bill Making Gay Attack A Hate Crime

President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed and celebrated hate crime legislation that extends protection to people based on sexual orientation, sealing a long-fought victory to gay advocates. The president spoke of a nation becoming a place where "we're all free to live and love as we see fit." The new law expands federal hate crimes to include those committed against people because of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It also loosens limits on when federal law enforcement can intervene and prosecute crimes, amounting to the biggest expansion of the civil-rights era law in decades. "No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love," Obama said in East Room reception, surrounded by joyous supporters. "No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are, or because they live with a disability." Civil rights groups and their Democratic backers on Capitol Hill have tried for a decade to expand the hate crimes law, but fell short because of a lack of coordination between the House and Senate, or opposition from President George W. Bush. This time, the bill got through when Democrats attached it to a must-pass $680 billion defense measure over the protests of Republicans. Obama signed the combined bill in a separate ceremony earlier on Wednesday. Conservatives have opposed the legislation, arguing that it creates a special class of victims and could serve to silence clergymen or others opposed to homosexuality on religious or philosophical grounds. The bill is named for Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, whose family members stood with Obama. Shepard, a gay college student, was murdered and found tied to a fence in Wyoming in 1998. The same year, Byrd, a black man, was chained to a pickup by three white men and dragged to his death in Texas. "We must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits; not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear," Obama said. Groups pushing for the expanded civil rights protections rejoiced. "This is a landmark step in eliminating the kind of hate motivated violence that has taken the lives of so many in our community," said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Hate crimes law enacted after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968 centered on crimes based on race, color, religion or national origin. Some 45 states have hate crimes statutes, and the bill would not change current practices where hate crimes are generally investigated and prosecuted by state and local officials. But it does broaden the narrow range of actions — such as attending school or voting — that can trigger federal involvement and allows the federal government to step in if the Justice Department certifies that a state is unwilling or unable to follow through on an alleged hate crime. At the urging of Republicans, the bill was changed before it was passed in Congress to strengthen free speech protections to assure that a religious leader or any other person cannot be prosecuted on the basis of his or her speech, beliefs or association. The hate crimes measure came as part of legislation that Obama also touted for other reasons: a crackdown on careless military spending. The $680 billion bill kills some costly military projects while expanding war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill authorizes spending but doesn't provide any actual dollars. Rather, it sets guidance that is typically followed by congressional committees that decide appropriations. Obama said needless military spending was "an affront to the American people and to our troops." In turn, he put most of its focus on what the bill does contain: project after project that Obama billed as unneeded. The bill terminates production of the F-22 fighter jet program, which has its origins in the Cold War era and, its critics maintain, is poorly suited for anti-insurgent battles in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates targeted certain projects for elimination, putting them at odds with some lawmakers. The same spending items deemed unnecessary or outdated by Pentagon officials can mean lost jobs and political fallout for lawmakers back in their home districts. "When Secretary Gates and I first proposed going after some of these wasteful projects, there were a lot of people who didn't think it was possible, who were certain we were going to lose, who were certain that we were going to get steamrolled," Obama said. "Today, we have proven them wrong." Still, Obama didn't win every fight. The legislation still contains an effort by lawmakers to continue development — over the president's strong objections — of a costly alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force's fighter of the future. A vague White House veto threat about that never came to fruition. story from the Associated Press

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President Obama & Lady Gaga 'Fire' Up The Gay People in Washington

President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but acknowledged to a cheering crowd that the policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected. "I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give a timetable or the specifics that some activists have called for. The law was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton, who also promised to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the military but was blunted by opposition in the military and Congress.

"We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country," Obama said. "We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage ... especially when we are fighting two wars.

 

"I appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast enough," Obama said. "Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach."

Obama also called on Congress to repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. He also called for a law to extend benefits to domestic partners. He expressed strong support for the Human Rights Campaign agenda — ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people — but stopped short of laying out a detailed plan for how to get there. "My expectation is that when you look back on these years you will look back and see a time when we put a stop against discrimination ... whether in the office or the battlefield," Obama said. Obama's political energies are focused on managing two wars, the economic crisis and his attempt to reform the health care system. His message Saturday was one of unity and support for a group that has funneled large amounts of money into Democratic coffers. "I'm here with a simple message: I'm here with you in that fight," Obama said. Since Obama took office in January, some advocates have complained that Obama has not followed through on promises on issues they hold dear and has not championed their causes from the White House, including ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military and pushing tough nondiscrimination policies. Richard Socarides, who advised President Bill Clinton's administration on gay and lesbian policy, said Obama delivered "a strong speech in tone, although only vaguely reassuring in content." "The president and Nobel winner came and paid his respects, but tomorrow many will ask: What's his plan, what's his timetable?" In the past, Obama has urged the gay-rights community to trust him. In June, he pointed to some initial efforts, such as a presidential memorandum he issued that expands some federal benefits to same-sex partners. Obama publicly has previously committed himself to repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they don't disclose their sexual orientation or act on it. But Obama hasn't taken any concrete steps urging Congress to rescind the policy, and his national security adviser last weekend would only say that Obama will focus on overturning it "at the right time." Obama also pledged during the campaign to work for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. But lawyers in his administration defended the law in a court brief. White House aides said they were only doing their jobs to back a law that was already on the books. The gay community is somewhat split as to whether Obama should be expected to produce results right away. The Human Rights Campaign, which invited Obama to speak at its dinner Saturday night, said it remains hopeful of seeing more action. "He's obviously the most supportive president and has done more than any president" on behalf of the gay community, said Joe Solmonese, the group's president. He said the Obama administration has been working with the group on a range of issues "on an almost weekly and sometimes daily basis." Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, notes there has been some progress such as new hate-crimes legislation, which would make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation. Approved by the House this week, Obama predicted it would pass the Senate and promised to sign it into law. Frank, D-Mass., also said the gay rights community understands "there is a legislative process" and progress can't happen overnight. YOU MAY WATCH THE ENTIRE VIDEO OF PRESIDENT OBAMA - CLICK HERE Human Rights Campaign

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President to Address Gay Rights Group

President Obama is scheduled to make an appearance at the annual dinner for Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC on Saturday, Oct. 10, the night before the National Equality March. The appearance is unprecedented as only one other sitting president has addressed the leading gay rights advocacy group and that was Bill Clinton in 1997. Obama’s White House has been criticized by gay rights activist for what has been viewed as not only a slow response to support but a stream of contradictions. Many question his solid commitment to gay issues when Mr. Obama has yet to fulfill such campaign promises as repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell,” policy barring openly gay people from serving in the military, and the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. The infamous case of the California couple who sued to overturn DOMA only to be met by the administration's defense of the law arguing that two consenting adult men wanting to marry equated to a man marrying his niece was met by a nation of dropped jaws. Obama remained silent on the issue until meeting with members of the gay community in June for an earful of regret, frustration and disappointment. The President has the executive authority to order the military not to enforce the ban on gays rule but has yet to do so believing the best course is to work with the Pentagon and lawmakers to overturn it. In a remark made to the NY Times he believed, “preventing patriotic Americans from serving our country weakens our national security.” “As commander in chief,” Mr. Obama said, “I do have a responsibility to see that this change is administered in a practical way and a way that takes over the long term.” On September 15, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced a bill in Congress to dump the Defense of Marriage Act. President Obama has promised to support the repeal. There are 97 co-sponsors of the bill to date.

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Official Regrets Advice to Gay Student

The Obama administration Wednesday defended an Education Department official over advice he gave a gay student about sex 21 years ago. The official, Kevin Jennings, says he should have handled the situation differently when he told the boy he hoped he had used a condom during a sexual encounter with an older man. Jennings, who now heads the department's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, has been under fire from conservatives and right-wing groups for not reporting the incident to authorities or to the boy's parents. In a statement Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Jennings has devoted his career to promoting school safety. "He is uniquely qualified for his job, and I am honored to have him on our team," Duncan said. Jennings was teaching high school in Concord, Mass., in 1988 when a sophomore boy confessed of an involvement with an older man in Boston. Telling the story a dozen years later, Jennings described how the boy told of meeting the man in a bus station bathroom and going home with him. Jennings said he told the boy, "My best friend had just died of AIDS the week before. You know, I hope you knew to use a condom." Jennings was speaking during a conference of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which he founded. Conservative psychology professor Warren Throckmorton unearthed an audiotape of Jennings' comments to the conference and posted it on his Web site recently. In the Education Department statement Wednesday, Jennings said, "21 years later, I can see how I should have handled the situation differently. "I should have asked for more information and consulted medical or legal authorities," he said. "Teachers back then had little training and guidance about this kind of thing. All teachers should have a basic level of preparedness. I would like to see the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools play a bigger role in helping to prepare teachers." The department noted that Jennings has won honors from groups including the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of Independent Schools, the National Education Association and the Massachusetts Counselors Association. Some NEA members protested their organization's award to Jennings. Story Reposted From The Associated Press.

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Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Barack Obama on Thursday named gay civil rights pioneer Harvey Milk and tennis great (and open lesbian) Billie Jean King as two of 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom.   America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.  

From the White House Press Release

This year’s awardees were chosen for their work as agents of change.  Among their many accomplishments in fields ranging from sports and art to science and medicine to politics and public policy, these men and women have changed the world for the better.  They have blazed trails and broken down barriers.  They have discovered new theories, launched new initiatives, and opened minds to new possibilities.

President Obama said, “These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds.  Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs.  Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change.  Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way.  Their relentless devotion to breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to which we all should strive.  It is my great honor to award them the Medal of Freedom.”

President Obama will present the awards at a ceremony on Wednesday, August 12, 2009.

Other awardees include Nancy Goodman Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s leading breast cancer awareness organization; Stephen Hawking, the internationally-recognized theoretical physicist; Sen. Edward Kennedy; Desmund Tutu; Chita Rivera; Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland; and Sidney Poitier.

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King was an acclaimed professional tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s, and has helped champion gender equality issues not only in sports, but in all areas of public life.  King beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, then the most viewed tennis match in history.  King became one of the first openly lesbian major sports figures in America when she came out in 1981.  Following her professional tennis career, King became the first woman commissioner in professional sports when she co-founded and led the World Team Tennis (WTT) League.  The U.S. Tennis Association named the National Tennis Center, where the US Open is played, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006.  Harvey Milk Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens to live their lives openly and believed coming out was the only way they could change society and achieve social equality. Milk, alongside San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was shot and killed in 1978 by Dan White, a former city supervisor.  Milk is revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal rights.

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Obama Makes A Pledge

President Barack Obama, under fire from the gay-rights community over slow action on its priorities, promised to deliver by the time he leaves office. The president gave no new details about how he would advance these issues, but he made passionate remarks saluting the pioneers of the gay-rights movement and expressed solidarity with those working for equal rights. "Welcome to your White House," the president said at a reception Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the birth of the modern gay-rights movement. His remarks were greeted warmly by a cheering crowd of some 250 gay and lesbian activists and supporters. As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama vowed to overturn the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay men and women from serving, and to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to ignore same-sex marriages performed in other states and bars the federal government from granting marriage benefits to people in same-sex unions. The Obama administration has said it will take congressional action to address both issues. But, aware of both the complex politics involved and its full agenda, the White House has done little so far to prod lawmakers along. Many in the gay-rights community were also angered by the tone of an administration legal brief defending the Defense of Marriage Act. Earlier this month, Mr. Obama offered a small step, promising to extend certain benefits available to same-sex partners of federal workers. But critics dismissed the move as amounting to little in practice. The president appeared mindful of these criticisms when he stepped to the front of the East Room on Monday.

"It's not for me to tell you to be patient," he said, comparing the gay activists' struggle to that of African-Americans in the civil rights movement. "I expect and hope to be judged not by words...but by the promises that my administration keeps."

He added that by the time his presidency is over, "I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration." Mr. Obama said he had asked the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He reiterated his pledge to try to reverse the Defense of Marriage Act and said he would work for legislation aimed at preventing workplace discrimination, extending the federal hate-crime law to acts against gays and lesbians, and giving domestic partners of federal workers health and other benefits. And he said he was committed to repealing rules that prohibit people with HIV from traveling into the U.S. Joe Solomonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay rights group, was at the event and said afterward that he appreciated the president's strong words. But he added: "It is the actions to advance equality -- not simply the words -- that will be the true marker by which this White House will be judged."

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Pride Reception At White House

As advocates for gays and lesbians intensify their criticism of the White House, President Obama has invited some of their leaders to an East Room reception next Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the 1969 Greenwich Village demonstrations that gave birth to the modern gay rights movement. The White House has not publicized the reception, and officials did not respond to e-mail requests for comment according to the New York Times. But gay leaders from here and around the country said they had received either telephone calls from the White House or written invitations to the event, and were told Mr. Obama is expected to speak. Some said it would take more than a reception to change their view that Mr. Obama has not been aggressive enough in pursuing gay rights. As a candidate, Mr. Obama campaigned to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law barring gay marriage, and ‘’don’t ask don’t tell,’’ the military policy that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly. But advocates have accused him of dragging his feet.

“What’s going to change the way the community is feeling is seeing the introduction of a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’’ said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, a Boston-based advocacy group, referring to two policies Mr. Obama pledged to overturn. She said gay rights advocates want to see “a president who is fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail.’’  

Mr. Obama would not be the first Democratic president to mark the Stonewall uprising; Ten years ago, Bill Clinton declared June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. But the Obama reception comes amid growing complaints from gay leaders like Ms. Chrisler, who supported Mr. Obama’s election but are becoming increasingly upset with him as president. Just last week when Mr. Obama announced a package of domestic partnership benefits for federal workers, several prominent gay and lesbian political leaders attacked the president for failing to extend full health benefits, saying that the initiative was a mere token effort that included benefits that had already existed. Ms. Chrisler, who was in the Oval Office for the signing of the memorandum, said she was not satisfied by what she called the ‘’limited benefits’’ Mr. Obama offered. She said she hoped Monday’s reception would be “an opportunity for us as a community to highlight again to this president and this administration that real lives are impacted by his decisions.’’ Whether Mr. Obama will address the complaints at Monday’s reception is unclear. One person who received the invitation said the White House was billing the event as a celebration, akin to the festive affairs the administration holds on St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo. Another said the invitation included an offer to bring a guest. “They want people to understand that their partners are welcome,’’ said this person, speaking anonymously because the White House has not announced the event. The White House event will be just one of many commemorations of the Stonewall uprising, named for the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar on Christopher Street that was the site of a police raid that turned violent in the early hours of the morning of June 28, 1969. The raid led to a series of protests that spawned the creation of gay advocacy groups and, more broadly, empowered gay people to begin fighting for recognition and civil rights. Update: The White House confirmed the event. Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said,

“Next Monday’s event is a chance for the White House to recognize the accomplishments of LGBT Americans. Invited guests include families, volunteers and activists, and community leaders. This event was long planned as a way to applaud these individuals during Pride month.”

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Please Don't Fire Me

Lt. Dan Choi, an Arab linguist, is being fired under Don't Ask Don't Tell. He spoke to CNN's Carol Costello on American Morning. Lt. Choi will be a guest on CNN’s Anderson Copper's 360 Tuesday night beginning at 10pm ET. This is an open letter to Congress and President Obama written by Lt. Dan Choi:

I have learned many lessons in the ten years since I first raised my right hand at the United States Military Academy at West Point and committed to fighting for my country. The lessons of courage, integrity, honesty and selfless service are some of the most important. At West Point, I recited the Cadet Prayer every Sunday. It taught us to “choose the harder right over the easier wrong” and to “never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.” The Cadet Honor Code demanded truthfulness and honesty. It imposed a zero-tolerance policy against deception, or hiding behind comfort. Following the Honor Code never bowed to comfortable timing or popularity. Honor and integrity are 24-hour values. That is why I refuse to lie about my identity. I have personally served for a decade under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: an immoral law and policy that forces American soldiers to deceive and lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception and lying. These values are completely opposed to anything I learned at West Point. Deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force. As an infantry officer, an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic, I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates. I demand honesty and courage from my soldiers. They should demand the same from me. I am committed to applying the leadership lessons I learned at West Point. With 60 other LGBT West Point graduates, I helped form our organization, Knights Out, to fight for the repeal of this discriminatory law and educate cadets and soldiers after the repeal occurs. When I receive emails from deployed soldiers and veterans who feel isolated, alone, and even suicidal because the torment of rejection and discrimination, I remember my leadership training: soldiers cannot feel alone, especially in combat. Leaders must reach out. They can never diminish the fighting spirit of a soldier by tolerating discrimination and isolation. Leaders respect the honor of service. Respecting each soldier’s service is my personal promise. The Department of the Army sent a letter discharging me on April 23rd. I will not lie to you; the letter is a slap in the face. It is 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. They are professional. Further, they are respectable infantrymen who work as a team. Many told me that they respect me even more because I trusted them enough to let them know the truth. Trust is the foundation of unit cohesion. After I publicly announced that I am gay, I reported for training and led rifle marksmanship. I ordered hundreds of soldiers to fire live rounds and qualify on their weapons. I qualified on my own weapon. I showered after training and slept in an open bay with 40 other infantrymen. I cannot understand the claim that I “negatively affected good order and discipline in the New York Army National Guard.” I refuse to accept this statement as true. As an infantry officer, I am not accustomed to begging. But I beg you today: Do not fire me. Do not fire me because my soldiers are more than a unit or a fighting force – we are a family and we support each other. We should not learn that honesty and courage leads to punishment and insult. Their professionalism should not be rewarded with losing their leader. I understand if you must fire me, but please do not discredit and insult my soldiers for their professionalism. When I was commissioned I was told that I serve at the pleasure of the President. I hope I have not displeased anyone by my honesty. I love my job. I want to deploy and continue to serve with the unit I respect and admire. I want to continue to serve our country because of everything it stands for.  Please do not wait to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Please do not fire me. Very Respectfully, Daniel W. Choi 1LT, IN New York Army National Guard