Hot Topic (7/5): Is the Military responsible for his death?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

Gay sailor’s family blames military after his death

They say the government did little after Houstonian complained of harassment

BEAUMONT — Relatives of a slain sailor are calling the 29-year-old’s death a hate crime.

Rose Roy of Beaumont said her nephew, Navy Seaman August Provost III, had complained a year before about being harassed for being gay.

Roy said she advised Provost to report and document the incidents, but she said the military did little to help.

“He went to the Navy to serve and protect,” she said in an interview with Beaumont’s KFDM News, “he didn’t get protected at all.”

Roy told The Associated Press that the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy discouraged her nephew from asking for help.

“That phrase is just stupid because it tells them they have no one to speak to,” she said.

The 29-year-old Houston native was found dead Tuesday at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. Roy said the family was told that Provost was shot three times, had his hands and feet bound, his mouth gagged, and body burned.

The family plans to hold funeral services July 10 in Houston.

Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of San Diego said Thursday he wants a Defense Department investigation into the death, after leaders of the city’s gay community asked him to intervene.

Investigators have called the sailor’s death a random act unrelated to the his sexuality and have taken a “person of interest” into custody. No charges have been filed.

Roy said Provost joined the Navy in March 2008 to pay off college debt.

What are your thoughts on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as an answer to gays in the military?  Is the government responsible for this mans death? Why or Why Not?

[texanmommy]

 Crimes of passion or hate are usually the ones this brutal. Hard to say what I think without all the information. It might have been a hate crime, and the person who committed it is responsible. The military failed him in not providing a safer environment, and allowing him the recourse of filing a complaint against any individual who was harassing him. This goes beyond harassment though. It is not likely that it could have been stopped. Usually when someone wants to kill you, they do not go around broadcasting it. Only when they want to kill themselves are we given the opportunity to intervene. If someone was threatening his life due to his sexuality, and he tried to tell his superiors but was ignored, then yes his CO is responsible.

But the 'Don't ask, don't tell' thing, is a very childish way to deal with any situation. Just pretend the elephant is NOT in the room. And I really wish a lot of people would grow up.

I have yet to meet a gay man that goes around trying to convert others to their lifestyle. Male or female, in my experience, have never outright approached anyone for a 'date' unless they knew for sure the other party might be receptive. Most just want to be....it is who they are that matters, not what they are. But hey lots of people will hate you & try to kill you for way less. I feel badly for this mans family, he did not deserve to die this way, and his family surely should not have to remember him this way.  

[cowgirlsr2]

It should not matter what your sexuality is in the service if you signed up then you are all equals and no one should be singled out unless you are in someway unfit then you should be discharged not picked on or killed.Unfit does not mean gay, bisexual ,or female!

[nbr1sahm]

YES the military is responsible IF...

1. The individuals who killed him were in the military

and

2. if the individuals who killed him were the ones he filed complaints on

I've worked in restaurants and hotels with better harassment policy than the military. People who harass become more of a liability than anything else for this reason exactly. It's easier to let someone go then to bury another and have to defend why that person wasn't protected.

[zava_t]

This story is just sad. I feel sorry for his family and friends. They are suffering a terrible loss right now. And this man certainly did not deserve to die so young or so brutally.

I completely agree with your response.

Quoting texanmommy:

 Crimes of passion or hate are usually the ones this brutal. Hard to say what I think without all the information. It might have been a hate crime, and the person who committed it is responsible. The military failed him in not providing a safer environment, and allowing him the recourse of filing a complaint against any individual who was harassing him. This goes beyond harassment though. It is not likely that it could have been stopped. Usually when someone wants to kill you, they do not go around broadcasting it. Only when they want to kill themselves are we given the opportunity to intervene. If someone was threatening his life due to his sexuality, and he tried to tell his superiors but was ignored, then yes his CO is responsible.

But the 'Don't ask, don't tell' thing, is a very childish way to deal with any situation. Just pretend the elephant is NOT in the room. And I really wish a lot of people would grow up.

I have yet to meet a gay man that goes around trying to convert others to their lifestyle. Male or female, in my experience, have never outright approached anyone for a 'date' unless they knew for sure the other party might be receptive. Most just want to be....it is who they are that matters, not what they are. But hey lots of people will hate you & try to kill you for way less. I feel badly for this mans family, he did not deserve to die this way, and his family surely should not have to remember him this way.  

[JoJo282]

This is a horrible situation and yes the military failed him, and who ever did this should absolutely be punished to the fullest extent of the law.  I do however feel the military is NOt the place for gays. they have always had the dont ask dont tell policy well since it became a issue so that right there tells you hey stay out we will not protect you....

[hsteele]

I think Don't Ask Don't Tell is a ridiculous and discriminatory policy. It needs to be overturned and the military  needs to begin allowing all qualified Americans to join the military. The ban against allowing women into direct combat is just as ridiculous. As for this case, I don't think without evidence that it was done by 1 a member of the military and 2 because the victim was gay, you cannot say who is responsible.

[hsteele]

Actually the don't ask don't tell policy has only been around since Bill Clinton's term. And homosexuality has existed for far longer. If the policy were not in place the young man would have been able to go to his superiors and they would have been required to do something. His superiors should be required to protect him, whether they want to or not and to deny him that protection shows their homophobia. Just because you don't like a person or their lifestyle doesn't mean you can forget that he is a part of your team and deserves the same respect and protection as the rest of the team. It is comments like this that give the idea that it is ok to harass gays and lesbians in the military or anywhere. And its not. They serve their country as well as a hetero man or woman.

Quoting JoJo282:

This is a horrible situation and yes the military failed him, and who ever did this should absolutely be punished to the fullest extent of the law.  I do however feel the military is NOt the place for gays. they have always had the dont ask dont tell policy well since it became a issue so that right there tells you hey stay out we will not protect you....

[mistynights234]

I agree as well.............

Quoting zava_t:

This story is just sad. I feel sorry for his family and friends. They are suffering a terrible loss right now. And this man certainly did not deserve to die so young or so brutally.

I completely agree with your response.

Quoting texanmommy:

 Crimes of passion or hate are usually the ones this brutal. Hard to say what I think without all the information. It might have been a hate crime, and the person who committed it is responsible. The military failed him in not providing a safer environment, and allowing him the recourse of filing a complaint against any individual who was harassing him. This goes beyond harassment though. It is not likely that it could have been stopped. Usually when someone wants to kill you, they do not go around broadcasting it. Only when they want to kill themselves are we given the opportunity to intervene. If someone was threatening his life due to his sexuality, and he tried to tell his superiors but was ignored, then yes his CO is responsible.

But the 'Don't ask, don't tell' thing, is a very childish way to deal with any situation. Just pretend the elephant is NOT in the room. And I really wish a lot of people would grow up.

I have yet to meet a gay man that goes around trying to convert others to their lifestyle. Male or female, in my experience, have never outright approached anyone for a 'date' unless they knew for sure the other party might be receptive. Most just want to be....it is who they are that matters, not what they are. But hey lots of people will hate you & try to kill you for way less. I feel badly for this mans family, he did not deserve to die this way, and his family surely should not have to remember him this way.  

[sappharie]

   I AGREE WITH ALL THE LADIES ABOVE   IT IS SO SAD

[norwegianwood]

Well the military doesn't set that policy, THAT is a CiC order from Clinton.

P