Lt. Dan Choi (fourth from left) and Fort Lauderdale resident, Petty Officer Larry Whitt were part of a group arrested at the White House. (Photo courtesy GetEQUAL)

GetEQUAL protestors disrupt government: By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

American Veterans for Equal Rights Gold Coast Chapter member Larry Whitt  was one of six people arrested for chaining themselves to the White House fence on Tuesday. Dressed in his all white Navy uniform, Petty Officer Whitt stood proud along with Lt. Dan Choi in protest of the United States Armed Services policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ which does not allow gay and lesbians to serve openly in the military. President Barack Obama had made a campaign pledge to repeal the law but many believe he is not acting quick enough.

“We are handcuffing ourselves to the White House gates once again to demand that President Obama show leadership on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” said Choi. “If the president were serious about keeping his promise to repeal this year, he would put the repeal language in his defense authorization budget. The president gave us an order at the Human Rights Campaign dinner (in October) to keep pressure on him and we will continue to return to the White House, in larger numbers, until the president keeps his promise to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell this year.”

U.S. Park Police cleared the area and used chain cutters to place the demonstrators under arrest. The other protestors were Capt.

Jim Pietrangelo, Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen, Cadet Mara Boyd and Cpl. Evelyn Thomas. Pietrangelo was arrested with Choi in March when the duo handcuffed themselves to the White House after a rally organized by the Human Rights Campaign. Police chased reporters away from the scene during the arrests.

Choi had just appeared in Miami Beach on Saturday, April 17 as part of the pride parade and festivities. Choi and Whitt are part of a group known as GetEQUAL, who in the last few months have resorted to civil disobedience to get their message of equal rights for the LGBT community to the forefront of the national news scene.

On Wednesday, GetEQUAL members disrupted the U.S. House of Representatives Education & Labor Committee Hearing to demand immediate markup and passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for civilian nonreligious employers with over 15 employees.

The bill has stalled in Congress since 1994. Six people were arrested during this protest. Also on Tuesday GetEQUAL protestors heckled President Obama during a speech at a fundraiser in California. In an interview with the Florida Agenda two months ago, Whitt said he was in the Navy for 12 years and worked as a postal clerk. He left the Navy on his own terms, and said he always had a gay friend on every ship and many shipmates who he was out to and they didn’t care about his homosexuality. Whitt currently serves as the Color Coordinator for the American Veterans for Equal Rights Gold Coast Chapter in Fort Lauderdale.