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The reason for the lack of information being released by the Navy and the Marine Corps about whether sailor August Provost's murder was a hate crime related to his sexual orientation is because, according to a U.S. Congressman from California, it would raise questions about consequences of DADT and the inability for any gay or lesbian to report harassment without outing themselves. Here is the Navy Times take on the status of the case.
A sailor remained the top suspect in the June 30 murder of a fellow sailor with Assault Craft Unit 5 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
…Navy officials said they don’t believe the shooting was gang- or terror-related. They also continued to dispute rumors that Provost was killed because he was gay, despite contentions raised by several relatives and gay advocacy groups who claim the sailor had been harassed at the unit because he was open about his homosexuality.
While Navy officials have denied that the shooting was a hate crime, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., has asked Navy and Marine Corps officials for additional investigations into Provost’s death. Provost “made the selfless and courageous decision to serve his country, regardless of his sexual orientation; he should be treated with honor and respect,” Filner wrote in letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway; Col. Nicholas F. Marano, who is Camp Pendleton’s base commander; and Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.
Filner said he was frustrated with a lack of information from the Navy and the Marine Corps, particularly over the suspicion that Provost’s sexuality might be connected to his death, which would raise questions about consequences of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“They don’t want that discussion to take place,” he said.
There is zero incentive for the Pentagon to admit this was a sexual orientation-related hate crime. I do hope that all of the relevant information comes out, because clearly there is no national security risk if the facts come out. The real risk out there is the one the Pentagon put the country in by discharging qualified gay and lesbian personnel.
Related:
* Sheila Jackson-Lee to call for Congressional investigation into the murder of sailor August Provost
* Time article mulls connection between slain sailor's murder to queasiness over repealing DADT
* Sailor killed at Camp Pendleton may have been target of hate crime
16 Comments
Push this murder investigation as hard as they did TAILHOOKlet every G*D DAMN person of EVERY rank know their career is on the line, if ANY cover up occurs.
I could almost believe in godfrom such a vigorous response to this tragedy, from this Congressman and others. The positive changes that have come about since the horror of Matthew Shepard’s murder are about to be joined by the consequences of the fact that the gov’t and the military are STUCK with the horror of this sailor’s murder whether they want it or not, and this conversation will be had whether they want it or not.
I really don’t get it?Isn’t the fact that this sailor was gay enough? That is the only reason the possibility exists under DADT that he would not have been able to report being harassed. What is the military going to say, because it isn’t true in this case the questions should not be raised at all? Investigation or no investigation the cat is out of the bag. It is time for the military to speak up on how they are meeting the needs of gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors and marines. It’s not as if we don’t know already….
So sadthe levels of secrecy we force our courageous, gay soldiers in this country to partake in — they can’t even report harassment when threatened, for fear of being dishonorably discharged. Imagine that? The murderers are very likely to walk free, for we may never know who they were, but it was Provost who was at risk of being dishonorably discharged. There are some days I wonder why I fight so hard for this country to change, perhaps it is beyond all reasonable hope?
There is zero incentive for the Pentagon to admit this was a sexual orientation-related hate crime.Actually I think “less than zero incentives” is a better way to put it. Then you could talk about the cultural disincentives there are in the military for treating gay service members as anything other than Untermenschen.
With respect, there’s misconception about DADT
Reporting harassment based on homophobia neither means that one IS gay nor requires one to “tell” that he or she IS gay if they are.
Barry Winchell was killed for being PERCEIVED as gay because he was in a relationship with a transgender person. HE never considered himself gay.
We are not served by misstating that the policy is even more heinous than it already is.
Yes, some people fear that reporting harassment will, in violation of the policy,trigger an investigation but the complaint alone does NOT justify such action by his/her commanding officer. As long as DADTDPDH remains law, we must demand that it be enforced consistently which includes DON’T HARASS as well as the ban on a commander ASKing the person reporting the harassment whether or not he or she IS gay.
The bottomline remains the same, of course: “improper” investigations will only end when “proper” ones do….with the death of DADT…and, in the interim, Mr. Gay Friend in the White House FREEZING DISCHARGES!
i think in practicethe system isn’t so clean as you suggest based on the letter of the law. it’s no secret that military women reporting rape and sexual abuse only get abused more. it’s no secret that mentioning the “g” word is highly risky, and the result depends completely on the fair-mindedness of the soldier’s superiors. i’ve never heard of a non-fair-minded superior officer being reprimanded in a dadt-related case.
OT: Just got this GLAAD Twitter and it’s ugly…
Language: clue to Navy ‘s attitude toward teh gaysThe language used by Navy PR dude Brian O’Rourke reveals his–and probably the Navy’s–attitude toward LGBT civil rights organizations.
From the Navy Times:
Special interest groups? Discounting the possibly unintended insult of labeling August Provost’s family and friends a special interest group, just who would those groups be?
I haven’t heard that nasty little epithet-masquerading-as-a-term-of-debate for a while, but whenever I did, the context and/or tone of voice fairly dripped with contempt for the “special interest groups” in question.
Americans still find it hard to understand that civil rights are in the nation’s general interest. And here, the Navy’s representative, speaking to a national Navy publication, feels perfectly comfortable using creepy right-wing codewords to describe those whiny gays complaining about their “special rights” (to not be harassed and murdered?) again…
And maybe I’m just a whiny neurotic oversensitive gay who picked up Martin Luther King’s Why We Can’t Wait and fell for the idea.
I never suggested it was “clean” at all
… nor did I suggest that the frequent abuse of the policies are appropriately punished, if punished at all.
Special interest groups?I predict the Brass will continue to dismiss the complaints that way until they realize they are pissing off significant members of Congress. At that point, and only at that point, will they stop.
From our point of view DADT is a crime and there is no defense for it.The murders of August Provost and Barry Winchell are the direct result of DADT, a law written by Democratic bigots with the cheerful help of military bigots and Republican bigots. Obama and the Democrat leadership in Congress refuse to make a serious or principled effort to get it repealed.
It was signed into law by a bigot named Bill Clinton who could have vetoed it but instead chose to codify military bigotry. In signing DADT Clinton elevated old bigoted policies into law, sending a powerful signal that bigotry is not only OK, it’s mandatory. Thugs both enlisted and officers got the message and these two murders are the direct result. DADT was so maliciously conceived that even those only perceived to be LGBT are targeted by the rampant military prejudice it sanctifies and encourages.
DADT forces GLBT folks to lie, to get into the closet and to stay there. It isolates us from friends, lovers and allies and prevents us from seeking protection when threatened by thugs, setting us up for harassment, loss of benefits, illegal termination and occasional violence, including murder.
We ought to insist that it be repealed immediately even though, along with DOMA, it’s part of Bill Clinton and the Democratic (sic) Party’s legacy of bigotry. Obama made vague promises to repeal it but hasn’t. And won’t. He’ll likely delay repeal until the next election cycle and then drop it.
At the same time we ought to be actively discouraging enlistment in the genocidal oil wars against Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The best way for the LGBT communities to support all US military personnel is to join with the antiwar movement in demanding an end the war and total, unilateral, immediate and permanent withdrawal of US forces to US home bases.
Still lying about history I see…
DADT was passed in both Houses by an VETO-PROOF majority. To claim that Clinton could have stopped it is typical of your “Rise Up & Throw Off Your Oppressors” stealth socialist propaganda.
Equally dishonest is to claim that homophobia and violence against gays in the military began with DADT.
Try telling that to sailor Allen Schindler’s mother. His murder was in 1992…before Clinton even had the Democratic nomination….let alone before anyone had heard of DADT.
And how could Clinton be the bigot that Donal1944 aka Bill Perdue aka Rainbow RED claims when, in response to the Winchell murder, he issued an executive order adding a hate crimes sentence enhancement to the Uniform Code of Military Justice….in addition to his executive order banning gay discrimination in civilian federal employment?
Jeeze, Bedwell, follow the script.
I didn’t claim Clinton could have overridden a veto. I said he was a bigot for signing it. DOMA confirms that. Prove I said otherwise. If you can. With a quote.
I didn’t say that military bigotry began with Clinton, just that he abetted it. Prove that I said what you claimed I did. Prove my dishonesty. If you can. With a quote.
I didn’t blame Alan Schlinders murder on Clinton because his murder occurred before Clinton signed the bigoted act DADT. I did blame it on the prevalent homohating in the military, the kind that Bill Clinton approved of later when he signed DADT. But go ahead, prove otherwise. If you can.
Clinton’s a bigot simply because he signed DADT and DOMA, boasted about signing DOMA to pander to religious bigots and enforced the codified bigotry of both virulently bigoted laws. He’s worse than Bush or Obama who also enforce them and support them because he signed them.
Here’s a news flash. I’m going to keep saying that because it’s true. If you’d been around the Blend you’d know that my leftist views are not exactly stealthy.
You’re going to lose this one Bedwell. Just like Hillary Clinton lost.
Rape in the military is widespread. that even the Pentagon has to take note. According to a March 2009 story by CBS
You’ll notice that the Pentagon doesn’t include rape, murder and other crimes of violence against GLBT folks among their concerns. There is no mention that Clintons DADT caused the deaths of Barry Winchell and August Provost.
The bipartisan Congressional bigots who voted for DADT and the bigoted President, Clinton, who made it law with his signature made sure that information isn’t available. DADT, as intended, forces people into the closet and, by law, makes them lie about their sexuality. The result is isolation from friends, lovers and allies and being set up for victimization ranging from loss of benefits to violence and murder.
Race, too.My colleague Jeanne Scheper just posted an interesting note about this reflecting that race is tied up with sexual orientation here, adding another layer to the silences and lack of information. She also notes, as the U.C. system faces serious budget cuts, that Provost had been attending school to become an engineer…
Indra Lusero
Palm Center, Assistant Director