Op-ed: Why I Can't Stop Fighting

Lt. Dan Choi is on trial for how he protested the “don’t ask, don’t
tell” policy and wishes for a day when he no longer needs to be
political.

BY Dan Choi

September 20 2012 10:40 AM ET

[Photo: Dan Choi protests outside the White House in 2010.]

Since the burgeoning days of the African-American Civil Rights
Movement, the military has proven to be the front lines in Americans'
battles for equal treatment under the law.

Even before the landmark and unprecedented court decision, Brown v.
Board of Education, radical ideas of equality and desegregation had
visited the U.S. Armed Forces. With white and black service members
serving together for the first time, notions that all soldiers could
serve equally and with the dignity accorded their uniforms and not the
color of their skin set the tone for debates in years to come as a
fervor for liberation swept oppressed minorities in our country.

This had been a long time coming, however. We find the roots of
Executive Order 9981, which desegregated not just race but also
religion in our Armed Forces, in a history of injustice begging to be
corrected. We need only look a few years earlier to the courageous
442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion, a
Japanese-American force that liberated Dachau even while their family
members at home were placed in concentration camps within our own
borders. These injustices in many ways have been set right, but our
work as a country was not done.

The repeal of “don't ask, don't tell” and the ability for gay
Americans to serve their country with distinction was a continuation
of that work, and as we celebrate the one-year anniversary of that
policy's demise, we would do well to honor not just those who worked
to end DADT, but those that set the stage over the decades that have
allowed such a historic opportunity for our community and our country
as a whole to move forward.

Since the first Greek nation-states in the dark depths of human
history, the notion of citizenship has been intertwined with the
ideals of sacrifice. In order to be accorded the full rights and
considerations of full-fledged members of society, we have always been
asked for sacrifice, and now gay Americans can begin to finally reap
the benefits of that sacrifice. For the first time, the possibility of
being considered full citizens of the United States is a clearly
visible goal, and this is just one step in that journey.

Our work, however, is not done in the U.S. Armed Forces. Sexual
assault without punitive action is still rampant in the military, and
we haven't yet explored how best to adequately protect LGB soldiers
from harassment. Our transgender brothers and sisters are still unable
to add their names to those who may openly serve. Great Americans like
Autumn Sandeen, a trans woman who was arrested with me at the White
House protesting DADT, are unable to consider themselves "full"
citizens.

Our victories thus far are not empty ones, but are instead
illustrations of how we must continue to do better in order to have a
more just military. Instead of resting on our laurels, LGBT Americans
and those who serve must show that they are leaders, and reach for
further equality in policies that affect gay Americans and their
families. We must reach out and seize our rights; from partner
benefits for federal employees to non-discrimination laws for our
workplaces, LGBT Americans must not be satisfied just with a Pride
party at the Pentagon, but nothing short than full federal equality.

I look forward to the day we accomplish this, when I, and others like
me, no longer need fight these battles in courtrooms and at the White
House fence; I look forward to the day when I no longer need be
political.

As I currently am embroiled in a trial fighting the charges stemming
from my last arrest, I wish instead I could toast my president for a
job well-done and finished. However, none of us may rest in the fight
for true equality. I may not rest, whether in the service of my
country in the military or as a civilian. I join in service with the
many other activists, advocates, and writers who tirelessly work to
further an agenda of openness, liberation, and full citizenship.

Lastly, to those soldiers who are currently serving, I wish to say,
"Thank you." I remind you, however, as true citizens willing of
sacrifice, that when we say, "Thank you for your service," a simple
"you're welcome" will not suffice in response. What we are truly
saying is, "Thank you, now make us proud." Truly proud.

Endeavor to respond, "I will earn that thanks every day."

--

Lt. DAN CHOI is an LGBT activist and a veteran of the Iraq War. Follow
him on Twitter at @ltdanchoi.

© 2012, Here Media Inc. All Rights Reserved

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