Lt.Dan Choi Discharged Under DON'T ASK DON'T TELL!

Lt. Dan Choi, from Orange County, California, is an Iraq War veteran and openly gay. Lt. Choi received a letter from the army on April 23rd of this year discharging him from the military. President Obama has made a promise to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" but at this current time Lt. Choi's discharge might not be prevented. The Courage Campaign (www.couragecampaign.com) is currently seeking public support through signature of a letter to President Obama requesting that he pushes congress to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

I certainly feel that "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (introduced by the Clinton administration in 1993) is insulting and caters to homophobia. While I whole heartedly support the LGBTQ community and signed the letter from The Courage Campaign website. A friend of mine later posed a provocative but important question. Should we fight for quality in an arena that perpetuates violence, death, genocide?

I believe that the U.S. military often does more harm than good. I have never supported the war in Iraq and I take deep issue with the concept of teaching men and women to kill. I take deep issue with sending men and women off to war only to have so many return with missing limbs, broken hearts, mental and physical health issues that often last a life time.

Currently my view is that even though I do not agree with many actions the U.S. military has carried out I do believe in free will. A person of any gender and sexual orientation can make the choice to join forces with the military. I believe a person should be able to make that choice free of discrimination.