Army Lt. Dan Choi, the gay rights
activist honorably discharged from the military for announcing more
than a year ago on television that he's gay, says he blames President
Obama for the political foot dragging on repeal of “Don't Ask,
Don't Tell.”
Choi became an outspoken critic of the
law that threatens gay troops with discharge if they do not remain
celibate and closeted after he appeared on MSNBC's The Rachel
Maddow Show to promote Knights Out, the West Point graduate group
that lobbies for repeal of the policy. On the show, he announced
that he's gay.
Speaking to CBS
radio Friday, Choi said the policy remained in place because the
president is not willing to “show solid leadership” and blamed
him for not taking action.
Choi also said that his discharge
letter was mistakenly mailed several weeks ago to his parents' home
in California. He said he did not get notified because he's not on
speaking terms with them.
“They don't accept the fact that I'm
gay,” Choi said, explaining that his father, a minister with the
Southern Baptist Convention, is in denial about the fact that his son
is gay.
Choi fought against a May 6 discharge
for “moral or professional dereliction,” which said he was being
let go because he publicly announced he's gay, which constitutes gay
conduct.
During the intervening months, Choi
increasingly protested the Clinton-era policy, getting arrested twice
for chaining himself to the White House fence in protest. Charges
of failing to obey a police officer were later dropped.
On Thursday, he tweeted to his
thousands of followers: “I have been discharged under DADT. Our
fight is just beginning.”