LGBT/Pride Week
June is LGBT pride month. We have a variety of queer AAPI's, friends, families and allies posting about their experiences. Thanks to Be DeGuzman, one of APAP's 2009 Unsung Heroes, for coordinating this special week of posts.
To help with our upcoming hate crimes/Vincent Chin week (June 21) or Pacific Islander week (Aug), please let us know. If you have a topic you or your agency would like to coordinate, email us.
"Don't ask don't tell" has become a hot issue in the past week with two Asian Americans featured as brave victims of this ridiculous policy.
On March 19th this year, First Lieutenant Daniel Choi, a West Point graduate, infantry platoon leader, and officer in the National Guard, came out on national television. Choi went on the Rachel Maddow show to discuss the "don't ask don't tell" (DADT) policy after becoming a founding member of Knights Out, a group for GLBT military academy alumni.
Choi's statement prompted action from the military who dismissed him on Wednesday for:
moral or professional dereliction... Specifically, you admitted publicly that you are a homosexual, which constitutes homosexual conduct... Your actions negatively affect the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard.
They fired a valuable trained leader who even spoke freakin Farsi because he said he's gay. So lame.
So Thursday, fiery Laura Kanter of the OCEC stayed up all night to throw together a protest of DADT and of Lt. Choi's treatment. (Choi is an Orange County native and has returned to live there.) The protest garnered support, attention, and media coverage including the OC Register and the Daily Pilot.
Choi then made a live appearance on the Rachel Maddow show again describing his feelings after being dismissed and announcing that he is going to fight it. Most importantly, he illustrated how his "homosexual conduct" did not threaten the cohesiveness of his unit or freak his fellow soldiers out. In fact he was praised by subordinates, peers, and commanding officers. Why? Because they're grown men who don't need the government to protect them from the gay.
In other DADT news, on Chinese New Year, Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao wrote a letter to President Obama saying, "Today is Chinese New Year day. I hope it will bring good fortune to you and your newly elected office. Today is also the day I inform my chain of command of who I am." She then urged Obama to repeal DADT: "Even if it is too late for me, I do hope, Mr. President, that you will help us to win the war against prejudice so that future generations will continue to work together and fight for our freedoms regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin or sexual orientation." - GLAAD Blog
And unlike all our letters to Santa Claus, Tsao got a response:
Sandy - Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my commitment. — Barack Obama. - GLAAD Blog
So how is Obama doing on this? After revising his promise from "repealing" to "changing" and then back to "repealing" DADT on the White House website, we await his "sensible" timing.
The Huffington Post recently ran an editorial by Aaron Belkin calling out Obama to issue an executive order to stop investigating the sexuality of service members.
Is that the right call? Belkin claims that an executive order would effectively kill DADT making it easier to repeal altogether at a later date. Some others claim that the most prudent way to go would be garnering public and legislative support and attention giving Obama the momentum to repeal DADT without setbacks.
Either way, these two soldiers have given up their careers to bring this issue to the forefront and we have to keep the momentum going. I for one believe DADT will be the first federal victory the LGBT movement will have under Obama, we have to just keep pushing.
What can you do? The usual, call your congressman/woman, your senators, and your president. Make a stink about it, and as usual, do something on facebook about it by joining this group.
Approximately 12,500 otherwise qualified service members have been dismissed due to DADT.
APAP is a national network of progressive Asian Americans and allies. We count on the support of our members and friends to continue our work of advancing progressive ideas. Please consider joining today.
Membership is just $20 per year and members receive discounts to events and merchandise.
| User | Points |
|---|---|
| curtis | 1561 |
| ebeh | 1161 |
| Madhuri | 745 |
| spamfriedrice | 551 |
| oliveoil | 336 |
| erinjerri | 294 |
| Calvin Prashad | 287 |
| JennyG | 281 |
| jenn | 219 |
| Intern | 120 |
Why do we encourage people to keep their fake identity? When they want to be honest?
I'm really proud of Dan Choi and Sandy Tsao. They continue a long tradition of Asian American service to this country even when the country officially holds them in low regard. It's part of a long tradition going back to WW II when Japanese Americans had to "prove" their loyalty and ended up with a 93% casualty rate because of it. Yes, that's right, I'm drawing a link between what gay Americans are going through in the Army today and the discrimination surrounding Japanese American military service in WW II. I think once we understand what "don't ask, don't tell" means in that context, it's clear that Asian Americans will have to get behind Dan and Sandy too.
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