DISGRASIAN™

AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! Dan Choi

Name: 1st Lieutenant Dan Choi

Occupation: National Guardsman with the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, based in Manhattan

Known for: Graduating from West Point with degrees in Arabic Language and Environmental Engineering, serving an extended tour of combat in Baghdad during the Iraq War, and founding Knights Out–an advocacy and education organization of soldiers that strives for the best possible leadership in the military, regardless of sexual orientation. Choi, joined by the other members of Knights out, are coming out publicly to defy the disingenuous policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Choi told the Navy Times, “I’m very comfortable with all the repercussions right now. To me, it’s about doing the right thing, not about trying to fit into the process that gets you the rank or prevents you from getting a discharge. If that’s the repercussion, I’m ready to take it. I think it’s more important that I let everybody know that … it is a wrong policy.” (For more regarding KO, See Choi’s interview with Rachel Maddow above)

We almost wish we were cadets so that we could join Knights Out, a surefire way to be associated with a military man boasting actual balls of steel.

[Knights Out: official site]
[Navy Times: West Point Grads Form Gay Support Group]

Thanks, jRu!

Filed under: Amazian Gaysians, Balls of Steel, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Coming Out, Dan Choi, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Rights, Military Men, National Guard, Policy That Sucks, Rachel Maddow, West Point