As gay discharges continue, sailor is murdered
Published: July 2, 2009
Updated 4 months ago
A 29-year-old Navy sailor was found dead at a Southern California military base Tuesday in a suspected homicide that activists say may have been related to his sexuality.
An unnamed individual is being held as a “person of interest” in the case.
Navy seaman August Provost of Houston, Texas, reportedly complained to his family that was he being harassed; his sister told a local newspaper that they’d advised him to tell his supervisor. If Provost revealed his sexuality, however, he could have been discharged from the armed services.
The news comes on the heels of the military’s recommended discharge of gay Arabic translator Daniel Choi, and discontent within the gay community about the Obama Administration’s actions on gay rights. President Obama says he will not stop the military discharges, which have resulted in the expulsion of more than 250 servicemembers since he was inaugurated in January.
A spokesman for a group that provides legal counseling to gays in and out of the military said the federal law that mandates discharging gay servicemembers certainly didn’t help.
“While ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ is in place, anybody in the military who is a homosexual has no place to go to get assistance or counseling,” Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s Ben Gomez told the San Diego Union Tribune.
According to the paper, an autopsy was completed Wednesday, but toxicology results haven’t yet been finished.
Activists want probe
Local activists have called for a formal investigation.
“We’re definitely monitoring this and trust and hope the military will investigate this in the professional way it should,” Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of San Diego’s Human Rights Commission, was quoted as saying.
The Navy declined to comment about whether Provost’s sexuality had anything to do with his death.
Provost’s purported boyfriend, Kaether Cordero, told the Tribune that the sailor was trusting of others and that he was out to his friends.
“People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero said. “He didn’t care that they knew. He trusted them.”
Obama says he wants law nixed by Congress
President Obama has said that he’ll work to end the law expelling gay servicemembers, but wants the measure must be changed by Congress. Activists say that he could invoke his executive authority to stop enforcement of the law, which was adopted under President Bill Clinton as a compromise measure to reduce discharges.
Democrats in Congress — including openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) — say their party doesn’t currently have enough votes to overturn the law. Public opinion polls show that a vast majority of Americans believe gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military.
Ex-Secretary of State and retired Gen. Colin Powell, who served a chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under President Bill Clinton, has also called for the measure’s reversal.
“It’s been 15 years and attitudes have changed,” Powell told CNN last year. “And, so, I think it is time for the Congress, since it is their law, to have a full review of it. And I’m quite sure that’s what President-elect Obama will want to do.”
Clarification: The practice of discharging gay servicemembers is a federal law.
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Why would a gay person want to defend a country that obviously doesn’t want to defend him?
Same reason African American’s join the military and put their lives on the line for more profit for their former slave masters.
(Mellon Bank, purchased by B of A, has direct links (via forensic accounting) to the slave system and plantation owners and the profits they derived from their exploitation.)
Reparations must come from the banks, not taxpayers .
We are a country that murders people and justify it with using God’s name. We are the same as our enemy. We see how Gays are hated and murdered and even Pro Life supporters only want to molest the children. Even Law Makers who are closet Gays wont come out and speak up. Hate runs deep in America and it could be it’s down fall then even President Obama can’t save the USA from it’s self.
“We are a country that murders people and justify it with using God’s name.”
Bullshit, don’t try to drag me into that “we” did it using God’s name. THEY did it. Bush/Cheney and that pack of criminals, and now Blowbama is picking up where they left off. While I fought for “my country” I don’t identify with it or individuals too fucking stupid or cowardly to point the finger at the real perps. Yes, Amerika has a collective responsibility in that our taxes pay for these wars and murders and there has been no rebellion as of yet. We are responsible for that.
And I know exactly who our enemies are. They are the fucking present administration, Congress, the Senate, the bankers and the corporate elite.
So if you want your own private fucking guilt-fest baby, leave me the fuck out of it. Go find a Michael Jackson memorial somewhere and cry your eyes out, and remember that you are not crying for this freak. You are crying for your own pathetic, illiterate, wasted life.
And for Christ’s sake, learn how to properly form sentences, you write like a fucking idiot.
Robert S. Finnegan
United States Marine Corps
senews@yahoo.com
Jakarta, Indonesia
“Hate runs deep in America and it could be it’s down fall then even President Obama can’t save the USA from it’s self.”
Jesus Christ, did you read the article before you posted? He’s NOT EVEN TRYING. He obviously hates gay people and seeks to oppress them.
This kind of LAZINESS makes me sick. Read about the man you don’t know but probably voted for, you don’t even have a clue.
And I quote: “… discontent within the gay community about the Obama Administration’s actions on gay rights. President Obama says he will not stop the military discharges, which have resulted in the expulsion of more than 250 servicemembers since he was inaugurated in January.”
Obama has been all talk since he took office. I’d like to see him reverse this order, but I don’t have “hope” in him anymore.
That’s why AIDS activist say, “Silence is death.”
Why do the conservatives always say Gays want special rights when we get killed JUST for BEING?
You do want special rights.. All the way down the line.
There’s no proof this is anything but a behavior. When do bank robbers ger their special rights? Or Drunks? Those are behaviors.
Demanding a standing ovation for jamming your dick in some guy’s ass is absurd. Demanding special treatment for it is even more so.
Faggotry is a mental disorder.
Damn, you are one ignorant m_therf_cker. Being gay is as much a lifestyle choice as being short is. Do you think I like being ignored and overlooked because I am short? No gay person choses to live a “lifestyle” that still causes them to be discriminated against.
I knew plenty of gay soldiers when I served. Obama is really disappointing me in not rejecting the politics of hate that you f_cking reicht-wingers haters practice. Only a damned fool of a society tells an otherwise highly qualified soldier that they cannot serve their country because of their sexual preferences. Our country shows as much ignorance and hatred as any of those “backward” Muslim countries that stones women for the offense of trying to better themselves via education and treats them like second and third rate citizens.
Sure, sure.. We’ll find that faggot gene any day now I bet..
And, btw.. Plz remember that you don’t have a RIGHT to serve.. Just like you have no right to marry or to expect special privileges, or to teach your perversion in school as a simple “alternative”
Want to be a cock sucking queer? Fine.. Go right ahead, but stop demanding the entire world bestow special rights upon you for your sexual preferences.
You know, it’s really sad.. Most people would want to be known for what they accomplished, or what they did, or taught, or who they helped.. Or any number of noble aspects of their short lives. Faggots, OTOH, self identify with where they put their dick. The lowest possible common denominator, that’s their standard.
OH, btw, stop comparing your pissant existence and rest stop blowjobs to the legitimate plight of Blacks and other minorities. Being arrested for pumping some truck driver through a glory hole contrasts poorly with their legacy of ACTUAL suffering and real discrimination. So please do the world a favor and just shut the fuck up about it nao? thx much.
“Our country shows as much ignorance and hatred as any of those “backward” Muslim countries that stones women for the offense of trying to better themselves via education and treats them like second and third rate citizens.”
LOL! Hyperbole much?
“Zomg! ZOMG!11!! If I can’t share a folxhole with that cutie pie soldier over there, then you’re STONING ME LIKE A BUNCH OF MUSLIMS!!1 ZOMG!! I’m being persecuted!! Hay, everyone1 Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I’m being repressed and stoned!!! ”
/ *ANGST* *DRAMA*
Jhofax. Get me get this straight (get it straight?) I know you’re kind of slow but Gays are not BANK ROBBERS. Drunks pretty much cover a wide spectrum, and you will have many people with years of sobriety tell stories of how it runs in the family.
Just for the record the only standing ovation I want is if I jam my dick up your ass for being one. Most of my straight friends who I hang out with you ARE SECURE with their sexuality can give a rats ass what I do and with who. That is not the topic of conversation. Obviously you have some deep seated issues and know why more about truck stops than I have ever even heard of you backwater low class piece of shit.
You show your ignorance. “Want to be a cocksucking queer?” Your command of the English language or the box of rocks stuck in that head of yours is astounding. Let me guess, you quit high school? Or was it all F’s? Or did they just pass you to get you the fuck out of there?
You are right that many people want to be acknowledged for their accomplishments, but being killed for being Gay and only for that reason may have stopped this soldier from earning a higher rank, accolades and awards for outstanding service. How do you know he wasn’t capable of that you right wing nut case? Many Gays in the military have been acknowledged by high ranking officers of being outstanding service members.
Do you read the news? Do you read?
Look up (if this is something you know how to do) gay writers, actors, producers, directors, business people and historical figures. We are not some kind of new invention.
You totally miss the point and people like you always do. A man is killed only for being Gay. No one “chooses” that. And if you’re not gay how would you know anything about it. You write as if you are some kind of expert on the topic…I honestly think you know more about it than I do.
Oh and one more thing. Stop thinking just because a man is gay he is interested in you just because you are male. What a joke! Doing a job, sharing a foxhole, and saving each other’s life in a war situation is a JOB not some kind of casual domestic optional arrangement.
Go to a medical professional and get a serious evaluation. I hear they are starting to kill people who “choose” to be assholes, and you might want to start taking meds for that.
Another estrogen laced, hyper emo, screed.
Again. You have no right to serve. You have no special right not afforded to other mentally ill persons who define their very existence in perverse sexual terms.. In short, it’s the exact same nothing post you put up originally. Just one big whine.
Worse yet, your perversion has convinced you that you can defeat me physically, or that you are somehow more enlightened or more successful, simply by virtue of your affinity for shoving your dick in other men’s assholes.
Not to put too fine a point on this, it is safe to say that you couldn’t be more incorrect if you tried.. On all counts.
In fact.. That sort of thinking is exactly why your current state is indeed a mental disorder. No sane person would make such wild associations out of thin air. It’s a religion for you, the church of some other guy’s asshole, and you’re a zealot. Once again, choosing the lowest possible common denominator by which to define yourself.. your perverse mindset and the associated behavior.
AND AGAIN, PLEASE, stop comparing your queer angst to the LEGITIMATE suffering of Blacks, Indians and women.. They REALLY SUFFERED.. and it was for much more than their sexual preference.
There was no “closeting” a black man in the south.. How dare you compare your perverse sexual preferences to their plight!
Burn in hell, faggot.. Woe be unto you, for the day blacks and other, legitimately persecuted, minorities, notice you glomming on to their accomplishments, and once they experience your arrogance, you’ll REALLY know what it’s like to be a minority for once in your pampered, pathetic, whiny, estrogen filled, ass bleeding life!
Good luck with that!
Now don’t forget and BE SURE! To keep screaming that you suffered JUST LIKE Blacks, just because you take all comers at the local rest stop.
I’m POSITIVE it will generate you allot of sympathy!
Lotsa luck!
“Faggotry is a mental disorder.”
And if you really believed this, you would have some empathy. But, let’s be honest, you know you are full of shit.
Not to diminish the very real problem of hate crimes against gays, but Imagine what it’s like for women. Women are raped, beaten and killed every hour, every day, and in every city in the U.S. One in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime.
And no one gives a shit about that.
Oh come on, of course we do. Speaking for myself and just about every Marine I know, given the chance we would snuff the bastards after a long, slow interrogation winding up with the perp’s cock and balls shoved in his mouth. Unfortunately, now it is illegal and we don’t dare touch the pukes - especially SHOOT them - without saying goodbye to our own lives. Its fucking sick but if Amerikans want to solve this problem it is going to take force, and a lot of it. It is the fucking pigs that are screwing up rape cases, either through stupidity or the “they asked for it” mentality. Cops are public enemy #1, and if the “good” cops are standing by watching and have not resigned, they deserve whatever they get.They can’t even count, 10,000,000 (ten million) vets against how many cops? HA HA! All the firepower in the cop’s arsenals won’t stop us once we move out.
Over here, the mob usually takes care of it. Mob being the community. In those cases, the cops don’t even bother to get involved as there usually isn’t enough left of the swine to put in a sandwich baggie, and nobody saw a fucking thing.
That’s what we need again in Amerika.
Robert S. Finnegan
Sgt.
United States Marine Corps
seanews1@yahoo.com
Jakarta, Indonesia
To participate in the military, knowing you are being discriminated against, is asking for trouble. Solution; don’t join in the first place. Why be somewhere you’re not wanted? I’ve faced the same thing within my Republican family. The more I tried to fit in, the more I couldn’t, because they wouldn’t accept me as I am. So I don’t even try anymore.
You are right. Back when I was in, it was illegal. We didn’t have many homosexuals in the Marine Corps - I never met one - however I did know a few in the other services and they were pretty much exemplary, really knew their jobs and never let you down. Mostly Navy. Many lesbians, and if you ever wanted someone watching your back in an alley fight in Hong Kong, these women were preferred for their sheer ferocity. Fucking fearless. Scared the hell out of the Chinese too, they had never seen anything like it. They were always “one of the guys,” partied with us and nobody gave a shit, except for the new guys on the block who got their asses kicked for trying to pick them up.
We knew about them and they knew about us. If I liked to screw pigs that was fine. Nobody really gave a shit back then. We had more important crap to deal with… like staying alive. They protected us and we protected them from the asswipes who literally hunted them down for pleasure.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell destroyed this smooth-working accommodation, and no shit - Powell was the architect. Fucking coward, responsible for THOUSANDS of servicemen and womens’ deaths and he just couldn’t be satisfied with that. Now he can add this disaster to his vast repertoire of traitorous deeds.
Either way, we need to go back to the days of “Don’t say shit.” This problem would pretty much solve itself.
Robert S. Finnegan
United States Marine Corps
seanews1@yahoo.com
Jakarta, Indonesia
Thanks Robert Finnegan. You’re right. Ours is not the kind of country (unlike others) where it can just be a matter of fact thing. I don’t know what the deal is with Americans being so fixated on side issues and distractions that have nothing to do with the job at hand. It’s a duty, not some kind of social gathering. And in real life, a job is a job. If you do a good job, you’re in, bad job you’re out.
The mentality here is rather strange. Things have to be handled in a rather weird way. I think we’re so used to being told one thing, and then something else is really going on, people tune out, get ignorant, and turn their minds off. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you are right. It just that people who really want to serve have to live a secret life (a higher level of anxiety) than a regular soldier and that shouldn’t be the case.
Oh man, don’t even think the grass s greener on the other side. Many countries in Southeast Asia where homosexuality is illegal or was until just recently. Its legal here now, but in this city of nine million I have never seen one. Not a single one. This is a “Don’t say shit” country” and probably the other main reason is people are so fucking poor here they have more important things to do: like eating and surviving. Nobody really gives a shit about anything else.
Robert S. Finnegan
It is so disillusioning to see the Homophobe in Chief refuse to dismantle the dadt. What a schmuck! I always assume that the person who is a homophobe is a closeted gay. Maybe the Larry Sinclair story makes more sense than first thought. Thou protesteth way too much Barry!
The actual policy was crafted by Colin Powell, shouldn’t that be noted in the article?
Any word on our captured U.S. soldier? The rest of the world is reporting that he was drunk when captured and has been sold by the Taliban to some othe militant guy. Sounds like a hit movie, maybe he’s gay too.
Actually sounds like Noam Shalit. Winning hearts and minds…
Well fucking Barack Obama, when you gonna get off your sorry ass and do something about this shit!
Oh, I know, you’re too fucking busy wining and dining the wife around the country to be bother with this menial shit.
BTW man, thanks for the kick up in military action in Afghanistan. My stock in body bags just went airborne!
jhoffax you are one unhappy fked up nasty hating bigot bitch. Why don’t you try not breathing for a while
What a brilliant rejoinder!
With comments like thsi one, you too can be a Raw Story genius!
Keep reaching for that brass ring!
Fuck you military assholes who want to excuse this homicide.
If justice is not done you will be tracked down and made to you pay for this.
“military assholes ”
Newsflash: they get their orders from the precious Obama.
don’t ask, don’t tell is A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITICAL CRAP.
Republicans use gays, religion, abortion, any extremism they can,
to DIVIDE THE PUBLIC and CORRAL VOTES from rightwingers.
Unless the majority of VOTERS PUNISH REPUBLICANS for their vicious lies, fear-mongering
and pursuit of the destruction of American life, liberty, and chronic support of
the Republicans’ NANNY STATE FOR THE RICH and corporate welfare queens, Republicans will continued POISONING AMERICA.
We cannot take much more of THE REPUBLICAN INSANITY & CHAOS
they use to derail everything they do not control.
No one is asking for “special” rights; only the rights afforded every “normal” citizen of Amerika given by the Bill of Rights. And, “don’t ask don’t tell”, or “don’t say shit”; either way is a “special” way of handling what should be a private, personal business. Sexuality is expressed at every level and in all aspects of our society. However one expresses their sexuality, as long as every one is consenting, and no other laws are broken, should not even be a subject of debate. We have enough problems without adding who’s fucking who(?)!! And, on another subject, I also served in the armed forces 69-73. It was enlist, or be drafted. If it weren’t for the aggression of corporate driven countries, or nationalistic and racist, or religious leaders, most militaries would be unnecessary. We illegally invaded Iraq. It doesn’t even matter what the reason. All wars are started by governments who could not do so without a military. It’s the “Universal Soldier” syndrome; “support our troops, without which, there could be no war. The big lie is that we want peace at all. If we wanted peace we wouldn’t have the tools of the trade of war. When they changed the name from War Department to Defense Department, we had just stepped through the looking glass; we weren’t in Kansas any more. Now while we battle over “don’t ask, don’t tell, or Michael Jackson, or some new Senate perversion, Healthcare is off the radar. The clock is ticking. HR676
I guess the suspect isn’t Muslim, or the headlines would’ve been: “Muslim suspected in killing of gay sailor”, like “Muslim suspected in shooting of military recruiters”.