Obama writes woman booted from military for being gay, as Arabic linguist is fired

Story follows after update. Update: An army officer based out of St. Louis, MO, Sandy Tsao, who was booted from the military after telling her superiors she was gay in January, has received a handwritten note from President Barack Obama vowing that he will overturn the policy. The letter, posted by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, was noted by ThinkProgress Friday. The letter was received and sent before the latest disclosure of a gay Arabic translator’s firing.

An Arabic translator and Iraq veteran who came out on national television received notice Thursday that he will be fired from the military under the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

The blogger who disclosed the firing, Aaron Belkin, directly rebuked President Barack Obama, who as the commander-in-chief of the nation’s armed forces can ultimately be seen as responsible for the man’s dismissal. Dan Choi is a West Point graduate and officer in the Army National Guard.

Belkin acknowledged that the policy preceded Obama, but said a group of experts in military law say that President Obama could nix the policy by executive order. Previously, Washington insiders have said that any such change would have to be approved by Congress, because the gay ban is part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“A new study, about to be published by a group of experts in military law, shows that President Obama does, in fact, have stroke-of-the-pen authority to suspend gay discharges,” Belkin writes. “The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law requires the military to fire anyone found to be gay or lesbian. But there is nothing requiring the military to make such a finding. The president can simply order the military to stop investigating service members’ sexuality.”

Obama’s executive order would not get rid of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” but it would suspend the practice of firing servicemembers who come out as gay. Belkin argues that by suspending the policy, those who support it will see that serving with other gay men and women doesn’t have a deleterious effect on military morale.

“I spent a day with Dan Choi last month, and he is not someone we want to fire from the military,” Belkin remarked. “He loves the armed forces. He served bravely under tough combat conditions in Iraq. His Arabic is excellent, and he used his language skills to diffuse many tough situations and to save lives, both Iraqi and American. All of his unit mates know he is gay, and they have been very supportive of him. But he doesn’t want to live a lie.

“Obama has been praised for delaying efforts to get rid of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and some major gay rights groups are actively lobbying to delay consideration of the issue,” he continues. “They seem to believe that Obama should focus on other gay-rights issues first, and that he shouldn’t spend his precious political capital trying to ram a repeal bill through Congress.

“This misses the point,” Choi concludes. “Obama could sign an executive order today… Is this really the right time to fire military officers who are fluent in Arabic?”

Since coming out, Choi has organized a group of gay West Point graduates under the aegis of a group called Knights Out.

“My name is Dan Choi,” he writes on the website. “I am a West Point graduate. I am a Lieutenant in the United States Army.

“I am gay,” he adds. “I serve my country. I serve my country because I heard a leader say: “ASK NOT what your country can do for you… ASK what you can do for your country.” But when I step up to serve our country, to put my life on the line to protect my community, to protect my neighbors, to protect my family, to protect America, I am ordered… DON’T ASK. I am ordered… DON’T TELL.

“I serve with 65,000 selfless gay and lesbian Americans; we are ordered to deny who we are,” he adds. “We’re ordered to HIDE. But I am not hiding anymore. I am not asking permission anymore. I am done ASKING. I am TELLING. I am gay.”

Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay Democratic congressman in the House who is seen as the point person on gay issues, said recently that Democrats likely wouldn’t bring a vote on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to the floor of Congress until 2010. He argues that Democrats don’t have the votes and that bringing it to the floor now would be fruitless.

Choi spoke on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Thursday night. The video follows.

This video is from MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast May 7, 2009.

Download video via RawReplay.com

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