Gay Soldier Invited Back to Guard Unit

Lt. Dan Choi's return means 'don't ask' policy is on last legs

By Will McCahill, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 9, 2010 8:16 PM CST

(Newser) – The reservist who was ordered discharged from his US National Guard unit last year after publicly announcing he is gay is back with that unit. Lt. Dan Choi’s discharge is still pending, and, Talking Points Memo reports, with it looking ever more likely that the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on homosexuals on its way out, the unit’s commanding officer invited Choi back.

“I would view it as a recognition by his unit that Dan’s discharge may, after all, NOT be confirmed by the Army,” a fellow member of Knights Out, an association of gay West Point graduates, says. “Good to be back with my unit,” Choi—who became something of a gay icon after appearing last June with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow—writes in an email, “although I can still be fired at any moment for DADT.”

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Lt. Dan Choi is seen in a 2009 photo. (AP Photo)

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Lt. Dan Choi talks to NBC's Los Angeles affiliate about his potential discharge. (KNBC-TV)

Dan Choi's interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. (YouTube.com)

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Gay Soldier Invited Back to Guard Unit