【AP】US military panel calls for gay soldier to be discharged

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US military panel calls for gay soldier to be discharged
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/01/american-gay-soldier-discharge-call

Associated Press
guardian.co.uk Wednesday 1 July 2009 13.07 BST  Wednesday 1 July 2009 13.07 BST


Dan Choi tells a news conference that he will fight a recommendation that amounts to dismissal for 'telling the truth about who I am'. Gloria Wright/AP

Iraq war veteran violated 'don't ask, don't tell' policy by announcing his homosexuality

A US military board recommended today that a soldier who publicly announced he was gay should be discharged for violating the military's policy against homosexual conduct.

Dan Choi would be the first New York National Guard member discharged for violating the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, said Paul Fanning, a spokesman for the unit.

Choi, 28, appeared in Syracuse, in New York state, before a Federal Recognition Board panel of four military officers, which recommended that the army should no longer recognise him as an officer.

Choi, who served in Iraq, said it amounted to firing him "for nothing more than telling the truth about who I am".

He added: "I'm a leader. A setback is an opportunity to keep fighting, and I'm going to do that through my actions."

The recommendation must be approved by the first army commander and the chief of the National Guard bureau before Choi is discharged, a process that could take anywhere from a few weeks to a year, said Roy Diehl, who represented Choi. Until then, Choi remains an active member of the National Guard, he said.

"It's a recommendation, not a completed act," Diehl said.

Choi is likely to receive an honourable or a general discharge and could lose some of his veteran educational benefits, Diehl said.

"They are taking effective troops ... and kicking them out, removing them from the force just as effectively as if al-Qaida was blowing them up," said Diehl.

Choi, a West Point graduate, announced he was gay in March in the Army Times newspaper and on a nationally broadcast show to protest at the military's policy, which he said forced soldiers to lie.

"It's an immoral code that goes against every single thing we were ever taught at West Point with our honour code," Choi said at the time.

His declaration was part of the launch of Knights Out, the first association representing gay and lesbian alumni of West Point. Knights Out has at least 50 members who have publicly identified themselves on the group's website. Choi is the only one still active in the military.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was put in place in 1993 by former president Bill Clinton. It forbids military recruiters from asking someone about his or her sexual orientation, but also prohibits a service member from revealing if he or she is gay. About 10,500 military personnel were discharged for violating the policy between 1997 and last year, the department of defence said.

Barack Obama has pledged to work to end the policy, but has made no specific move to do so since taking office in January. The White House has said it won't stop the military from dismissing gay soldiers who admit their sexuality.

Earlier this month, the supreme court turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The court refused to hear an appeal from former army captain James Pietrangelo, who was dismissed under the military's policy while in the Vermont National Guard in 2004.

"The military has no choice but to follow it," Fanning said. "We don't pick and choose what regulations to enforce."
At West Point, Choi, a native of Tustin, California, majored in Arabic language and environmental engineering.

He served in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division for 15 months in 2006 and 2007, leading combat patrols and serving as a translator and language instructor. He also helped rebuild schools and hospitals.

Last year he left the army and joined the New York National Guard, based in Manhattan.