I AM DAN CHOI (1/5)

Thank you my fellow patriots for giving me the opportunity to speak here today about the newfound equality that has gone into effect just days ago. For those of you who dont know who I am, I am Lieutenant Dan Choi. Im a native of Tustin. I then went to West Point, where I solicited steamy sex from soldiers, secretly of course at the time, and then went on to serve as an infantry officer in Iraq and later join the National Guard. In March of 2009, I came out on the Rachel Meadows Show, and posited a criticism of Dont Ask, Dont Tell which led to my discharge. Since then, many have called me the poster child for the repeal. You know, I must confess that I was worried about coming to speak tonight because of the nature of the organization: This is a QUEER-Straight Alliance, after all. Historically and even contemporarily, Queer has stood for that which is strange and does not conform to norms whether that be sexuality, body or even style and performance of political activism. Many have taken this concept of queerness absurdly further, expanding it to those who exist outside of normative structures such as Whiteness, which would make people of color part of the queer community. Some people even go so far to say that TERRORISTS are Queer! However, it seems like we might be safe. Historical amnesia and lack of consciousness has played to our advantage, as Queer has been reduced back to its rightful status solely for Gay men, with the occasional benefit of lesbians and bisexuals. Gay politics has benefited immensely from forgetting that the Mattachine Society, the foundation for the politicization of Gay identity in America, was communist. Even the Gay Liberation Front relentlessly criticized militarism during the Vietnam war but we have forgotten that their efforts were highly influential for gay politics. I hope that this group will keep this in mind as it continues in how it analyzes politics we must reduce the political to single issues and identities that have no intersection with others and their

I AM DAN CHOI (2/5)

oppression. This framework has been the dominant one of the gay movement, and you will find in this speech and my activism that it is the one I use myself. In order to truly understand how glorious the inclusion of gays into the military is, we must remember the values our nation was founded on which are maintained to this very day. Our nation was founded on tolerance and equality! The pilgrims came here in search of a better life where they could express their beliefs and identity publicly with little discrimination while simultaneously seeking economic opportunities. It was precisely these values of tolerance that allowed us to morally take Native American land. These savages were too irrational and uncivilized to keep their homeland; it was entitled to us, for we were more evolved, and they never counted in our scope of humanity. As we gained our independence, our borders spread further than a good twinks legs after a night at Tigerheat, leading to the Trail of Tears, and the destruction of their lives through war. Never be afraid of calling our great Nation an Empire! Even Thomas Jefferson rightly declared America to be an Empire of Liberty. Our nation, the shining city on the Hill, is built on the corpses of barbarians, our bills written with their blood. We must not forget our heritage, for it is the very structural conditions our nation was founded upon, values of which remain with us today. Do not shed tears for past brutalities Natives were collateral damage for the liberties we experience today in ways similar to how we have gained liberty through the repeal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell. As time went on, we were kind enough to the primitives, giving them territories. We even integrated those and other people of color who we previously excluded from our collective sense of humanity and gave them special rights like the right to not be a slave, own property, ability to eat in the same sections of restaurants as us, and even the right to vote!

I AM DAN CHOI (3/5)

With this progression of time, our military became stronger and stronger, allowing us to take resources that we are entitled to from the local barbarians; all of which done for capital and the competition it produces internationally. Politicians have distanced themselves for far too long, providing alternative messages as to why we go to war, which are all superficial distractions and lies. But it is now 2011 and we have once again made a stand, included another group! My gay brothers, we have gained EQUALITY, LIBERTY, and LIBERATION! For far too long this nation oppressed us, telling us that our identity meant we couldnt shoot straight at people of color for the sake of gaining resources. We were bullied, victimized, and silenced. They were just super rude: the most recent statistics indicate that around 13,650 soldiers were discharged simply for their sexual identity. Thats a little over 10,000 soldiers. 10,000 soldiers who could have maintained the war machine which killed, wounded, or displaced OVER A MILLION Arab savages. Some might say a million is a bigger number than 13,000. I say you cant compare apples to oranges, and you cant compare humans to terrorists. At the end of the day, theyre necessary collateral damage. Youve gotta crack an egg to make an omelet, and you gotta kill some towel heads to get the oil. Rendering bodies disposable is easy when they have valuable natural resources. If you think we went to war in the name of liberation, then you are, quite frankly, delusional. Our missions of democracy promotion are akin to burning a village to save it. Recognizing these missions were a function of US militarism necessary for the continued existence of capitalism is the most honest thing you can do. Invasions and regime changes are easy ways to forge trade deals with the people we put in power. Even Allen Greenspan, former of Chairman of the Federal Reserve who worked closely with the Bush administration, insisted that the war in Iraq was just for oil and resources. If Saddam

I AM DAN CHOI (4/5)

Hussein had been head of Iraq and there was no oil under those sands, our response to him would have been much smaller. When it comes to Dont Ask, Dont Tell, people should have a choice to be serial killers if they want to be. Of course not within our borders unless were talking about racialized impoverished neighborhoods, in which case its probably ok for the police to turn a blind eye, or even take on the role of the murderer. But now you have the ability to make that choice! Repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell means you can kill the uncivilized no matter what you stick down your throat or up your ass! Lets not forget the stories of young gay suicides all of whom were bullied for their sexuality. Now, very few documents talk about how these kids were bullied because of military exclusion but thats probably just the radical queers who want to promote the crazy idea that heterosexism and patriarchy make these identities deviant, producing bullying and self-hatred. But dont get it twisted: neither my camp nor the queer camp thinks suicide is ok. They just form different strategies to it. The repeal sends a strong message to these youth: Dont kill yourself now! Youre better off living so you can enlist in the military to kill and terrorize barbarians globally for resources! I mean, if youre going to kill yourself, why not do something good first and potentially die in combat? Also keep in mind that for some people in impoverished and rural places, they are not educated about options outside of the military and for many its the only option. Rather than question why these people are impoverished and lack education, or why it is mainly poor people of color who take up the honor of sacrificing their lives for the nation, we must do our part to distract the public and queer movement from militarism and capitalism.

I AM DAN CHOI (5/5)

So on that note: I want everyone to celebrate the Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal and the subsequent decrease in homophobia. Make sure you do your part to ensure that we dont question institutions like the military, or recognize the millions of corpses we have amassed only recently through our resource wars. Your right to fuck who you please will always be more significant than the deaths of people who dont even matter. You can now come out about your sexuality, just make sure you dont out the war machine. Be PROUD of your history. Be PROUD of this nation. Because our colors run deepespecially Red. Thank you, my fellow patriots.