Radical Gates: Reflections on Lt. Dan Choi

Radical Gates: Reflections on Lt. Dan Choi
Greg Miller
Housing Program Director
March 25, 2010

Hearing that Lt. Dan Choi handcuffed himself to the White House gate awakened a radical spirit for the work done through Multifaith Works. People with HIV/AIDS are often the ones who, because of stigma, homophobia, and violence, are silent while wanting to speak. Multifaith leads their voices into the world.

Activism can take many forms, many that are similar to handcuffing one’s self in a publicly vulnerable way, many that are similar to ACT UP chanting through the streets of this country, many that are similar to the resident advisor who leads a house meeting providing a forum for voices, many that are similar to the CareTeam in dialogue with a partner in recovery, many that are similar to a Shanti volunteer listening to a partner in prison.

Radical acts are those of vulnerable engagement—talking on the phone with a Shanti partner who is alone in her apartment, a CareTeam spending an afternoon with a partner in Volunteer Park, a resident advisor staying up late in one of our houses for a resident to come home safely.

I was in Berkeley the day Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone were shot. In that dark period there were moments of brilliant light, of compassion, of fearless protest. In many ways, this country is in a dark period that calls for a new multitude of voices, for speaking out, for rallying, for chanting, for lying still in the middle of roads.

Multifaith Works is not waiting; we journey forward with our sisters and brothers with HIV/AIDS. All our staff, resident advisors, CareTeam and Shanti volunteers are walking through radical gates, are engaging with the larger culture. But in a more profound way, all our partners and residents with HIV/AIDS are radical—for loving, for comforting, for voicing.

Lt Dan Choi, in answer to a Newsweek question, “So what is next for you?” answered: “When I was handcuffed to the gate someone else asked me, what’s next. I’m standing there with hands lifted skyward and I just told him, ‘This is.’ I have fully committed my life and all the sacrifices necessary to manifest equality and America’s promises. Like I said at court, ‘I’m not guilty, I’m not ashamed, and I’m not finished.’”

Radical acts are those of self-sacrifice. Thank you for not being finished!