Dan Choi Has Been Discharged

Photo from DEAN WRZESZCZ

The insane policy has finally gotten to this terrific man. And he was foreign to it despite expecting the inevitable:

The gay activist and former Army lieutenant who has been a vocal critic of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy told Gay City News that he has not received any notice that his discharge under that policy was finalized on June 29.

“As far as I know, I haven’t been notified of my discharge except by the Gay City News,” Choi said on July 21. “Obviously, I expected it to happen.”

Speaking by phone from Las Vegas a few hours after being released from jail for the arrests that he and seven other members of the activist group GetEqual faced as the result of blocking traffic during a protest, Choi said he learned his discharge was final when Gay City News reported it on July 20.

He had no clue even though the end result he had prepared for the moment he has gone public in assailment on one of the most idiotic, asinine, and total dumba-- policies we have ever implemented in United States history.

Now it is official ladies and gentlemen: Dan Choi is the latest victim of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

When will we repeal this Straight Jacket-esque policy? When?

Update: And he is in some dire straights:

Eric Durr, director of public affairs for the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, confirmed that Choi had been honorably discharged under "don't ask, don't tell." Choi's official notification of discharge included the dismissal of one other service member.

Choi knew that things were not looking good. He says that last Friday, as he was about to close on a Washington, D.C., property after getting easily preapproved by a military bank, he was told his loan was rejected “because my income was not stable.” He said that right now he is “fully unemployed” and will consider spending time in California. “The fact that the letter came to my dad is a wake-up call to me that I haven’t done a lot to hold my parents' hands through all of this. My inclination right now is to go home.”

What a shame.