This morning, 13 demonstrators handcuffed themselves to the White House’s northern gate in an effort to get President Obama to push Congress to advance the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Among the demonstrators organized by the GetEqual campaign was Lt. Dan Choi, renowned for being a gay solider who was fired under the policy. Before they were arrested, they led a chant of “Barack Obama, silent homophobia,” and offered their views to the crowd about how the administration is handling this issue. Lt. Choi was one of the ones who spoke directly to the crowd, saying:
“We have served our country valiantly, the defense of freedom and justice, now it is time for our leaders to do the same. After visiting Senator Harry Reid today, the majority leader, his staff telling us that the president is not engaged, at all, in the repeal of the most discriminatory law that bars soldiers from telling the truth. After all his rhetoric I think we must conclude that there is truth to the knowledge in homophobia of both sorts. There is a loud homophobia, those with platforms. And there is a silent homophobia of those who purport to be our friends and do nothing. Loud homophobia and silent homophobia have the same result, they must be combated and this is what we intend to do today.”
Unfortunately, sources at Senator Reid’s office deny having spoken to anyone in the group today and as we said, the 13 protestors, including Lt. Dan Choi, were arrested.
It’s so sad that it has to come to this, but something must be done to prove how serious an issue this is to those who still won’t vote for it’s repeal. Perhaps this forces some of those naysayers to at least think twice about their opinions.
[Image via WENN.]