Noteboom The Law Firm

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Advocate Committed To Psych Ward

December 22, 2010 - Lt. Dan Choi is one the leading advocates for repealing the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) law and has a strong history of very vocal and very outspoken advocacy. Last weekend, however, he was involuntarily committed to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) psychological ward. In Choi's own words, he suffered a "breakdown and anxiety attack." 

Choi had a colorful history of advocacy that included 3 arrests this year alone solely for chaining himself to the White House fence. He did it in an effort to have the administration end what he believed to be the blatantly discriminatory DADT law.

Choi graduated West Point, is a veteran of the Iraq war, and was eventually discharged from the military after he told the world he was gay on a 2009 MSNBC talk show. From that day forward, it seemed Choi made it a full-time job to work towards the repeal of DADT through his visibility in the media and at protests.

In a somewhat cryptic message, Choi blamed his breakdown on a series of betrayals and his name being exploited by special interest groups. Nevertheless, it is unknown who committed Choi or why he was committed. What is known is that there are no current charges pending against him.

Those closest to Choi were not surprised the stress finally overwhelmed him. In addition to exhaustion, Choi had detractors accusing him of attempting to personally benefit from spending so much time in the media. Hopefully this is just a temporary setback for Lt. Choi, and soon he will be able to rejoice that his efforts helped contribute to the repeal of the DADT law.