(From the Syracuse Post-Standard) Syracuse, NY -- Lt. Dan Choi vowed tonight to fight to stay in the military after an Army board in Syracuse recommended he be the first gay person discharged from the New York National Guard for violating the don't ask don't tell policy.
A four-officer panel meeting at Hancock Air Base notified Choi at about 5 p.m. that it would recommend he be discharged because he has publicly said he is a homosexual.
The recommendation goes to Lt. Gen. Thomas Miller of the First Army Division, and Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, who will make the final decision. However, the recommendations are seldom overturned, according to Asterisk*, a blog on gay rights issues from Matt Algren.
"I'm disappointed," said Choi at a news conference tonight."Today was a setback for me."
But Choi said he plans to appeal to the higher ranking officers. "I refuse to lie about my love relationship," he said.
Choi, who served in Iraq as a member of Fort Drum's 10th Mountain Division before joining the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry of the New York National Guard, publicly admitted to being gay in March on a nationally-broadcast MSNBC show.
The recommendation that federal recognition of Choi as an officer is the first step in what could result in Choi's discharge from the service for violating the military's don't ask-don't tell policy against homosexual conduct.
Now it will be up to the Obama Administration or Congress to decide whether to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
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