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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Politics Dan Choi Was Officially Discharged Today

Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 2:58 PM

The guy who's been chaining himself to the White House fence in protest of DADT—and who is a West Point grad, fluent in Arabic, gutsy enough to voice opposition to bad military policy—was officially discharged today. You can look at the discharge paperwork here. It's so weird to see that phrase "he is a homosexual" in the sentence about why he's being discharged. It looks so archaic. It looks so 1967.

Here's a copy of Seattle magazine* from 1967. Note the exact same wording as in Choi's discharge letter: "He is a homosexual."

* This iteration of Seattle magazine—well-written, provocative, literary, highly interested in sex and politics—was published from 1964 to 1970. It's unrelated to the Seattle magazine of today.)

UPDATE: Tim Appelo writes: "Actually, it's not totally true that the classic Seattle mag and the current one are utterly unrelated. The KING Broadcasting founders owned the right to call a magazine "Seattle" even after it closed in 1970. Harriet Bullitt's Pacific Northwest magazine at one point was considering naming itself Seattle, but went for a regional publication strategy. And when it sold, one of the things it sold was the right to call a magazine Seattle. Ownership has turned over since, and boy is it different. But there is a line of corporate descent. Not sure this calls for a correction, but that's the facts."

Comments (31) RSS

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What a sad waste of taxpayer dollars.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on July 22, 2010 at 3:00 PM

Peter Wichern was kind of a hot nerd type...

Here's a link to an interview about him and what happened AFTER this cover: http://home.earthlink.net/~ruthpett/lgbt…

Posted by michael strangeways

on July 22, 2010 at 3:03 PM

@2 Very interesting, thanks for the link!

Posted by boxofbirds on July 22, 2010 at 3:08 PM

Shopped. That's Mr. Poe.

Posted by Fnarf

on July 22, 2010 at 3:15 PM

Totally bizarre to see that in official writing - I agree! More than being wrong, it's just so WEIRD that because the dude admits to receiving dick in his butt or putting his dick in boybutt, he's out of a job. But the poo-eaters and golden shower folks are free to serve so long as the poo they eat and pee they drink comes from the opposite sex. I just don't get it.

Posted by Confluence on July 22, 2010 at 3:16 PM

@2, fabulous link - and a great site. There goes my afternoon.

Posted by gloomy gus on July 22, 2010 at 3:16 PM

I prefer this Seattle magazine cover:

http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/image…

Posted by stinkbug on July 22, 2010 at 3:21 PM

Obama could have stopped this and he didn't. Why does he think he has supporters to throw away?

Posted by Vince on July 22, 2010 at 3:26 PM

An "honorable" discharge though...

Curious. Has that always been the case for the "DADT violators" or is it something new?

Posted by Timrrr on July 22, 2010 at 3:30 PM

@9 definitely not normal

Posted by vooodooo84 on July 22, 2010 at 3:33 PM

Whoa. Nerdgasm.

Posted by rob!

on July 22, 2010 at 3:36 PM

That's a pretty swishy signature, General.

And what is NYARNG, anyway--the sound of a cock transiting your epiglottis?

Posted by rob!

on July 22, 2010 at 3:41 PM

Wow. I don't think it fully hit me just how asinine this policy is until seeing the discharge document. Yeesh.

@ 9, 10 - Actually, discharges under DADT do as a rule result in honorable discharge. At least, so I've heard from friends in JAG.

Posted by Anne in MA on July 22, 2010 at 3:44 PM

Hmm, I wanna know more about the Italian food, the blight on the skyline, and the abominable snowman. Are these at the central library?

Posted by a different Will on July 22, 2010 at 3:45 PM

Is the honorable characterization noteworthy?

Posted by josh

on July 22, 2010 at 3:45 PM

And wtf--General Smurfy gets all the fancy-dancy legal mumbo jumbo lined up just right, and omits the "d" at the end of "discharged"? He's clearly unfit for service.

Okay, my rage is discharging in all directions like subsea crude through a BP cap. Drinkie time.

Posted by rob!

on July 22, 2010 at 3:50 PM

@15 yes. If you get an honorable discharge you're eligible for vet/college benes and it affects where you can be buried and other things as well.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on July 22, 2010 at 3:53 PM

Making them honorable discharges was a whole other fight.

Posted by Vince on July 22, 2010 at 3:57 PM

@13, 18, my memory must be old

Posted by vooodooo84 on July 22, 2010 at 4:00 PM

re: "It's unreleated to the Seattle magazine of today." SNNNAAPPP!

Posted by I'm 85 Years Old on July 22, 2010 at 4:01 PM

Mr Poe isn't that tall...also, more sardonic.

Posted by michael strangeways

on July 22, 2010 at 4:01 PM

Will @17 is wrong as always. You don't have to have an honorable discharge to be eligible for benefits, etc., you just have to NOT have a dishonorable, bad conduct, or other than honorable discharge. The benefits are available to everyone with an honorable discharge or general discharge.

Posted by Fnarf

on July 22, 2010 at 4:05 PM

@21, the chair and briefcase are props from Tinytown.

Posted by Fnarf

on July 22, 2010 at 4:06 PM

Weird coincidence - Dan Choi's Discharge was signed by Patrick A. Murphy )Brigadier General, NYSRNG) and the congressman who added the amendment to end Don't Ask Don't Tell to military spending bill that passed first in the house is Patrick J. Murphy. (D, PA)

Posted by Normal Adjacent on July 22, 2010 at 4:19 PM

@ michael strangeways

Thank you so much for posting that link about Peter Wichern. I was getting downright teary towards the end--we've lost so many good men.

Posted by Original Andrew on July 22, 2010 at 4:22 PM

@25, I second that, it really reminded me of my uncle's mid-90s death to AIDS, and how I never got to know him before he was taken away.

Posted by vooodooo84 on July 22, 2010 at 4:41 PM

One of the few good things that came from DADT was the manner of discharge.

Prior to DADT, gays in the military often served jail time for being gay, and then given a dishonorable discharge. A dishonorable discharge is the legal equivalent to a felony conviction. So gays not only lost veteran benefits, we also lost our right to vote, to own a gun, and other assorted rights that felons loose. You can't get a security clearance. And of course, getting a job with a felony record is a challenge. So is getting a loan or insurance, sometimes.

DADT mandated that gays be given either a general administrative or honorable discharge, which carries no legal stigma. We shouldn't be discharged at all, of course, but a general or honorable discharge is vastly preferable to jail time and a felony rap.

Posted by Reverse Polarity on July 22, 2010 at 5:05 PM

@25 Yes indeed. Sadly, yes indeed.

Posted by Vince on July 22, 2010 at 5:10 PM

I keep telling people that Seattlites had style before we were sold all that goretex in the 90's. Now I have more proof!

Posted by JesseJB on July 22, 2010 at 6:42 PM

OMG, I remember that magazine cover so well. Its just IMPOSSIBLE for people under about 50 to understand just how very radical and cutting-edge it was at the time, both for the magazine and the person.

Posted by MarkyMark on July 22, 2010 at 7:45 PM