Today is the one-year anniversary of the murder of Navy Petty Officer August Provost.
Thanks to David Badash at The New Civil Rights Movement for the reminder. He writes today:
You’ll remember that one year ago today, U.S. Navy Seaman August Provost, a black, gay sailor, was found murdered, his body shot three times, gagged, bound, and burned. While there were clear signs this was a hate crime, the U.S. Navy refused to label is as such. Even the Congressional Black Caucus demanded a full investigation. It was never performed.
The circumstances that surrounded Provost's death were never made clear.
A vigil was held on July 10, 2009, in Oceanside, CA. LGBT activist Evelyn Thomas, a Marine veteran discharged in 1991, read a poem:
Calls for a fuller investigation have fallen on deaf ears. Current TV reported nearly a year ago on Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's call for an a full inquiry into this incident:
"I am requesting a full investigation into the murder," Jackson Lee said Sunday. "This death appears bizarre, and more facts need to be uncovered."
She never got it. The number to her Houston office is: (713) 655-0050. Her official email address is here, but requires an in-district zip code, fyi.
I presume another appropriate point person to lean on for a full investigation is Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus. The Navy's website offers only snail mail contact, but there is a general email inbox here. The Senate Armed Services Committee may be moved to investigate as well. Senator Mark Udall in particular has shown great courage fighting for LGB troops. His contact information is here.
Reposted on this anniversary is a portion of the diary that ran here on Kos on March 4, 2010.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
August Provost Didn't Have To Die
Petty officer August Provost was just 29 years old and had just started his Navy career, when his body was found, shot and burned in a shed on southern California's Camp Pendleton in June 2009.
Provost's partner, Kaether Cordero, said Provost was openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part. "People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew," Cordero said from Houston. "He didn't care that they knew. He trusted them."
Provost had recently complained to family members about a person who was harassing him, so they advised him to tell his supervisor, said his sister, Akalia Provost of Houston. --San Diego Union Tribune
This is what people do when a co-worker harasses them, right? But this is not an option for LGB servicemembers. They know anything that draws attention to their personal life, or relationships with other troops has the very real potential to end their career.
There was no one August could turn to.
To discuss his difficulties is tantamount to "telling," under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Provost knew such a conversation could well solicit retaliatory counter-charges from his harasser that he was gay, ultimately leading to his expulsion.
LGB service members don't join to make big social policy statements. They join for the same reasons everyone else does: they want access to a steady income, a good education, the opportunity to learn job skills, and to serve a country they love. August's dreams for a career, and education would be spiked forever.
He chose to ride it out, and that choice may be what cost him his life. We may never know the circumstances behind August Provost's death. A fellow sailor was arrested, held but killed himself in custody. There were reports of discord between the two, it is unclear if this was the man his family was referencing as his harasser. What IS clear is Provost was a man in trouble, and a system was in place to keep him silent.
Provost's is one under-reported story of DADT, another is this:
"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" Disproportionately Affecting Black Women
"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" has been used to kick Black women out of the military at a much higher rate than other groups. In fact, Black women are discharged under "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" at three times the rate that they serve in the military. Although Black women make up less than one percent of servicemembers, they comprise 3.3% of those discharged under the policy.
Again, a policy that demands silence, serves to protect the abuser, not the LGB soldier. Anecdotal reports have shown lesbians, and even straight women are made more vulnerable to sexual harassment by DADT (see "The 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Law Let Them Rape Me.") Predatory comrades, who find their advances unwelcome may respond with the typical childish taunt of "oh, she's a lesbian." Such rumors can have a lifetime of consequences.
To say nothing about the fact we should be unsurprised a policy that targets a group with animus, somehow does it's "best work" when traits that inspire animus are particularly well concentrated in one target.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Let us hope August Provost is the last of such tragic events. Let us honor his memory by comitting to making it so.
Today, in June 2010, the action items have changed, but the mission has not. Don't ask, don't tell is still the law of the land, and our military is still required to serve in silence, under threat of investigation and expulsion. Hurdles before us include overcoming threats of a GOP filibuster, poison pill amendments that destroy the intention of the bill passed in the House and the Senate Armed Services Committee, and treachery in the conference committee, where likewise, language to undermine the intention may be added.
Ultimately too, we'll be tasked with ensuring President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chair Mike Mullen implement a policy that appropriately honors and supports LGB troops.
In the immediate future, Congressional representatives—of both parties—need to hear that full repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," legislation is supported, and the job must be completed. Only when investigations and discharges stop, and the Department of Defense has affirmed our LGB troops right to serve under the same rules as every other servicemember will the job be complete.
Though we have been offered no guarantee, let us tell Congress, the Department of Defense and President Obama we expect them to follow through on the promise of open service for our 66,000 LGB servicemembers.
Provost is just one of many examples of a hate crimes perpetrated on a LGB servicemember, Barry Winchell is another. It's time to lift this policy, and allow our LGB servicemembers access to the same due process that protects other servicemembers from unjust harassment, discrimination and violence.
Servicemember's Legal Defense Network, who has been invaluable in sheparding the repeal process so far, has an action page here.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Links: Facebook | Twitter | Become a Citizen Co-Sponsor Diary contributed by Clarknt67. Follow Clark on Twitter at @clarknt67
