I covered the San Francisco Pride 2009 Media Party this evening honoring the grand marshals for this year’s Pride parade. I was really happy to meet Lt. Dan Choi, who is serving as one the Celebrity Grand Marshals along with Cloris Leachman and Milk producer Bruce Cohen. Lt. Choi has been in the news lately for outing himself on the Rachel Maddow Show and getting ejected from the military for violating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He’s a real nice, standup guy, who shouldn’t be punished for who he is or who he loves. Some snapshots from the event below:

National Security Advisor General James Jones appeared on ABC’s This Week discussing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,”  indicating he was unsure if it would be overturned. Watch.

We really need to hear Obama publicly address the issue, as we are all growing tired of the hedging from others in the administration. But I continue to resist the idea that Obama is turning his back on the gay community, and am hopeful the president will do the right thing, sooner than later. We must not continue to dishonor brave patriots like Lt. Dan Choi with this policy.

Orange County Equality California (OCEC) is organizing a rally supporting Lt. Dan Choi who was ejected from the Army National Guard for coming out on the Rachel Maddow show. Details of the event follow:

Time: May 7, 2009 from 2pm to 3pm
Location: Bridge over Campus Dr. (Irvine, CA)
Street: 4255 Campus Drive
City/Town: Irvine, CA 92612
Website or Map: http://maps.google.com/maps…
Bring Signs. Bring Friends.

More on the protest available here.

Lt. Choi’s original appearance on Rachel Maddow below.

Lt. Choi will be appearing on Rachel Maddow again tonight.