LT. Dan Choi Takes "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Directly to Obama

By Linda Milazzo, AlterNet. Posted June 1, 2009.

Outside the hotel on Wilshire Boulevard across from the Beverly Hilton, Lieutenant Dan Choi was surrounded by several hundred gay rights/equal rights supporters who hung on his every word.

(Video by Linda Milazzo)

His message was one of power and resolve:

We can't wait for somebody else to give us rights. We have to stand up. If we want our rights. We gotta fight for them… Let me tell you a little bit about Don't Ask Don't Tell. It is a deadly poison. It is the most toxic. That's military talk. Civilians try to call it the closet but it's toxic poison. Do not force that toxic poison. Do not inject that toxic poison in them anymore. Let them out of the closet! (wild applause)

 

It's not about my career. It's not about my pay grade. It's not about money. It's not about elections. It's about telling them [gay service members], you are not alone. So I gave a message to President Obama. Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. Stop forcing them to lie. Stop forcing our soldiers to lie. Stop forcing our soldiers to hide. Stop forcing our soldiers to be injected with the closet. And let them be free to serve! (more applause)

While Lieutenant Choi was still addressing the crowd, guests from the Obama event began exiting to their waiting cars from the front of the building. Notice the contrast in crowds, though there is little doubt that amongst the glitterati who attended last night's affair, particularly those in entertainment, many support the identical equality and civil rights the rally attendees were blaring in their ears. Indeed, one attendee charges across Wilshire Boulevard through traffic to join up with the rally:

(Video by Linda Milazzo)

Among the crowd on the rally side of the street, was actor and human rights activist, Hal Sparks, who made a lasting impact on the gay community as the character, Michael, in the five year Showtime series, Queer As Folk, a serialized fictional dramatization of the lives of a group of gay men.

(Photo by Linda Milazzo)

Hal has been an activist for gay rights and the fight against AIDS since the early days of AIDS Project Los Angeles - one of the pioneering organizations to assist AIDS victims soon after the epidemic first hit Los Angeles. Hal spoke openly with me last night about his many passions, including why Lieutenant Dan's appearance at the rally was so critical in the struggle for human rights:

I'm here because I believe it's a civil rights issue. We cannot argue that this country is the freest country in the world and then limit the freedoms of people we don't agree with and are not like us or make us uncomfortable. That seems absurd to me so I think that's one of the reasons when Proposition 8 passed I think that people in California actually thought I can't believe anyone would actually argue this here. But it [Proposition 8] did pass and I think there's some work that needs to be done and you can't argue with that fact. The other reason, of course, is the fact that I was on Queer As Folk and it gives me a bit of a voice. I can actually add some attention to it and if I can do that then that's terrific. In a lot of ways it's similar to my involvement with Marijuana Policy Project. You know, the legalization movement. I don't do drugs of any sort. Never have and I'm not gay. But I believe in liberty and freedom and I believe that if we're going to live up to the challenge and the promise of this country we have to respect the rights of everyone.

Regarding Dan Choi, Hal goes on to say:

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Linda Milazzo is a Los Angeles based writer, educator and activist. Since 1974, she has divided her time between the entertainment industry, government organizations & community development projects, and educational programs.

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