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While visiting FDL, you may have noticed the smiling face of a man in uniform, attached to these words:
“FDL is important because our words are not just meant to echo within ourselves, but to echo with future generations.”
The words and face belong to Lt. Dan Choi, whose energetic fight to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” succeeded where more mannered mainstream efforts did not. (Rather like how Gulf resident and activist Diane Wilson’s efforts succeeded where those of various DC Veal Pen members didn’t.)
Lt. Choi is in Moscow this weekend, in solidarity with the formidable and brave activists of GayRussia — and has now been arrested for taking part in a Moscow Pride demonstration, which is illegal under Russian law:
Despite being detained by Moscow police, Choi continues to tweet about the arrests, “We are here: Right ear ringing small bleeding, 7 in car including me and Andy Thayer.”
Witness reports call the arrests “brutal.”
Peter Tatchell from the Associated Press was with the group when they were arrested and has reportedly been released.
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
You can follow his tweets here.
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From one of my e-mail lists, here’s the full message Lt. Choi sent from his iPhone as he was being hauled away by the Moscow cops:
Dan’s website and Twitter account are as follows:
http://www.ltdanchoi.com
Tweet! @ltdanchoi
Looks like Dan’s been freed, as have most if not all of the non-Russian Pride participants, but he’s hanging around the Moscow jail in solidarity with the Russian Pride members still in custody.
The persecution of homosexuals in Russia is a human rights crime. And it has been since the recriminalization of sodomy in 1934. I say “recriminalization” since the Bolsheviks had decriminalized sodomy and homosexuality in 1922.
The recriminalization of gay sex was coincident in time with the consolidation of Stalinist counter-revolution after the assassination of Kirov. At the same time, the round-up of the “Old Bolsheviks” was in full swing, since Stalin went first after the actual leftists who would not support his conservative policies. Stalin’s wild swing to the left, represented by the insane collectivization campaign in the countryside that caused so much chaos and death, was on one level an attempt to maneuver to the left while at the same time he was killing of imprisoning all the actual leftists.
I mention all this because it’s important to remember that the first government to decriminalize homosexual love was Russia. The end product of that period is long since devolved into the capitalist-gangster state Russia is now. But that took time and a good deal of repression at the cost of countless lives.
But again, it was the socialists and communists who championed an end to repressive state laws against sexual behavior, a fact worth remembering, if only to be historically accurate.
See Homosexual Desire in Revolutionary Russia. The Regulation of Sexual and Gender Dissent, Dan Healey, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2001
As backwards as the United States is regarding LGBT rights, we have nothing on the Russians. That part of the old Soviet Union never went away.
Thanks for this, Jeff. That would make a good diary in itself.
Do we know if Dan was freed because he’s an American, or because he’s such a well known gay activist?
I hope this rings some bells for folks given the background and activities of the Kochs. I think Dan Choi is a very brave man.
Check it: “Gay or straight you’re coming with me” (video, RT.Com, May 28, 2011)
Thanks for giving us the info. PW.
I am not gay, but I feel so badly for those that are and are oppressed. I’ve said before that I worked for many years in the Health sector and I can tell you that GOD intended these people to be gay. In fact, some people have more than two nipples, have both male and female genitalia, have a male mind in a female body, etc.
The hatred and exploitation has got to stop!
“Dozens of gay activists detained on banned pride parade in Moscow” (RT.Com, May 28, 2011, 14:47):
At the risk of sounding uncaring, what did they expect? Moscow is not the USA when it comes to protests like this. They make themselves more the spoilers than those arresting them.
Mr. Choi would benefit more from his work in the USA than globtrotting and getting beat up. I have in the past really admired him for his work with trying to bring attention to the plight of gays in the military.
Thanks for the history lesson Jeff,
It’s interesting how anyone who is against the current power is considered “left”, but upon assuming power become authoritarian/totalitarian, like our current democrats or Stalin. Also that taking land from peasants for “collectivization” of the state is considered a product of the left when it’s the opposite.
Socialist land reform involves splitting up land monopolies and sharing it out.
At the risk of sounding intolerant, designcreature, get a clue.
1. The US is as tolerant as it is because of decades of this kind of demonstration.
2. I will be attending a demonstration here in Portland, OR, tomorrow because two gay men were beaten recently for holding hands in public.
3. Get a clue.
From the article
What is interesting here is Orthodox skin heads, and that apparently homosexual behavior isn’t illegal.
Larry King interviewed Putin who said that Gays were not banned from the military.
Sounds like were not that far apart.
Have you got a direct line to GOD?… because I have some complaints.
I’m sure that Choi wouldn’t wouldn’t accept your paternalist attempt to define the acceptable limits of his activism.
If he, and other gays listened to people that do this, he/they wouldn’t have any wins at all. As it stands they are the only group that seems to be making any progress at all.
A-yep. In fact, designcreature apparently didn’t see Jeff Kaye’s comment giving a short explanation of the history of gay rights in Russia: http://my.firedoglake.com/phoenix/2011/05/28/lt-dan-choi-arrested-in-russia/#comment-267436
I have a problem with Lt. Dan Choi:while debating Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore on Democracy Now Choi came off as a war monger.
He (Choi) even went so far as to state, “war is the thing that defines us.” Check out the debate, it will show you a different side of Lt. Dan Choi.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/22/does_opposing_do
Another link below on the same subject:
http://kenyonfarrow.com/2010/10/23/unpacking-lt-dan-chois-tr
Don’t we all!
Hope to see a post with video. :-)
More on the incident:
“OREGON: Two Gay Portland Men Beaten For Holding Hands” (Joe.My.God, May 25, 2011)
But this local news cast spoke of the Q Patrol by the Q Center:
“Portland police probe beating of 2 gay men” (video, May 24, 2011)
Discouraging violence against any group protects all groups. The Q Center volunteer sign up is here.
Sounds like “War is the health of the State” nonsense,
Choi has been in trouble before for using misogynistic language, He said Reid was a “pussy and he will be bleeding once a month” for attaching the DADT to a defense bill and using it for scoring points. Democrats use women’s rights in the same way.
Identity politics..
What I was getting at is that Mr. Choi has his plate full right here in the states.
Perhaps that was not made clear enough. A clue is what I don’t need except to attempt to get a point across without getting verbally bludgeoned.