Dan Choi Reports For Gay Pride March Grand Marshal Duty

Lieutenant Dan Choi, the openly gay West Point graduate who has become the "poster soldier" for the movement to include gays in the military, will be one of the Grand Marshals at the Gay Pride March on Sunday. Choi, an Arabic translator who spent 15 months in Iraq before coming out in a nationally televised interview, tells NY1, "How disgusting to think that 60 years from now they're going to look back on this time in 2010 and say you weren't able to serve in your country's military because you are an American who happens to be gay? We're going to be so ashamed."

He added, "The moment that I wore my uniform, fighting for this country, I swore to uphold what this country means. It means liberty and justice for all, for all of us. And we cannot leave out any single member, any single part of this society." Choi will share the marshaling duties with Judy Shepard (mother of Matthew Shepard) and Constance McMillen, a Mississippi high school student prohibited from taking her girlfriend to the prom.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on June 21, 2010 11:37 AM

Comments [rss]

SarahA43

Love Dan Choi! YAY GAY!!!

Check out this video Proud to be Gay in honor of New York Pride...

http://ourscenetv.com/posts/397/proud-to-be-gay

BotanistPrime

Gays should be doing something better with their time than throwing their lives at the war machine that is the US military. Leave that to the rest of the country.

Also, I'd hit it.

potsmoker

wait a damm minute how does he do ALL that and still give parking tickets in queens????

Guest

wait a damm minute how does he do ALL that and still give parking tickets in queens????

it's very much like how one friggin' black/hispanic kid who dresses the same, walks the same, and talks the same is everywhere in new york city. ;)

Guest

i see that you don't know a single asian person... and you live in nyc??? hahahahaha

Kitty Graves

i saw this spot on NY1 this morning and i actually got emotional over it. Good for you, Lt. Dan Choi, for standing up for your rights as a human being. I commend him - and wish that more folks felt as comfortable in their skin as he does.