Dan Choi Involuntarily Committed — Page 2

All I know is that I completely support gay rights, and Dan Choi annoys the crap out of me.

I have a similar reaction to him as I did to Cindy Sheehan - I agree with his general position, but he seems to add a dose of utter narcissism that makes me wince and just turn the page.

Nope, not "just". I'm with YWIW. Cindy Sheehan's activism and the people who enabled her gave her a platform to go completely, understandably crazy with the lights and the cameras trained on her.

Same with Choi. The cults of personality of these two strike me with their similarity.

I just think the press release announcing that he wasn't going to do a press release captures the very essence of what's annoying about Choi.

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No, that is not how I view him (I cannot speak for anyone else).

I think he got a bit caught up in the whole celebrity of the repeal movement, and every single thing was processed through that lens.

I used to follow him on Twitter, and supported him, but after a while, I began to have a visceral, negative reaction to him, even though I totally agree with his position.

I really don't care if he sells books or gets a speaking fee - everyone has to make a living. I just think there is a very fine line between political activist and political opportunist, and sometimes to me he crossed the line.

Again, I am speaking only for me.

ETA: I posted before I saw Q's response. If DADT is repealed, I do think that Choi deserves credit for keeping the issue front and center.

Updated On: 12/16/10 at 02:46 PM

Hey--I find many of his tweets annoying. Anytime there was a set back, he'd seethe against Obama and anyone else who didn't handcuff themselves to the White House fence, too.

But I respect him for fighting the fight. And, I suspect a great number of people are bitter that he rose up in the activist spotlight instead of themselves. Clearly, he was doing something right to get where he has gotten. And, I absolutely believe he is a part of why we could see the end of DADT soon. To take that away from him is very misguided no matter his flaws. And, to mock his personal problems of the moment is shameful.

It just seems that a number of people like to sit around a message board and bitch about nothing getting done and then when someone does do something and we don't agree exactly with how they do it, we tear them down.

We are NEVER all going to agree on how to tackle equal rights issues. Sure there should be criticism and debate. But tearing each other apart does makes things awfully easier for the right.

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Joe - I'm not sure it's even what he did, per se, as much as what he was touted as. When he came out on Rachel's show, the government was very much in a mode of 'we'll handle this our way, and you should just be patient and quiet about it'. For whatever reason, he was made the 'face' of the debate by the media, and the attempts to just keep it all under the radar weren't as successful. I do think his willingness - for whatever reason - to be so public has kept it progressing, as opposed to letting it simmer in the background. Without his presense, all we might have been left with was the HRC, and that doesn't leave much at all.

But it was never "under the radar." It was a campaign issue and addressed by the president in the state of the union. It may be taking longer than anyone wanted but when (Do I need to say "IF"?) it's passed, it won't be because Dan Choi chained himself to the White House gates.

No. Nononono. HE made himself the face available to the media.

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""Harry Reid is a ****," Choi angrily said after the failed vote in the Senate last month, vowing to speak out about the Democratic leader, "and he'll be bleeding once a month.""

With quotes like this from Mr. Choi, I'd rather he just STFU.

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I suspect that's an oversimplification of his time as an activist.

As for his Harry Reid is a ***** comment, he was rightfully given a new ***hole for saying all that by many in the community.

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The post from a guy who served with Mr. Choi was also very telling.

Why are gays making him out to be some sort of hero?

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I like unicorns.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/17/a-gay-soldiers-letter-bef_n_798417.html

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