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Death of a Gay Soldier
March 30, 2008 8:35 PM
Major Alan Rogers was an intelligence officer who trained Iraqi soldiers. An IED in Baghdad killed him while he was out on patrol. On March 14, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Washington Post reported at the time that Rogers' commanding officer wrote to his family: "As God would have it, he shielded two men who probably would have been killed if Alan had not been there."
According to the Washington Blade, Rogers was also treasurer of the D.C. chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights, which works to overturn the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.
Because Rogers, it turns out, was gay.
Some, such as Andrew Sullivan, have been quite critical of the fact that Rogers' orientation has been omitted from media accounts of his death.
Writes Andrew: "to enforce the closet even after his death cannot be explained except by a view that somehow being gay is shameful or private. I can see why outing someone who is alive and closeted is unethical; inning someone who is dead and was out is a function of utterly misplaced sensitivity, rooted in well-intentioned but incontrovertible homophobia."
In the Washington Post today, ombudsman Deborah Howell took a look at why the Post kept Rogers' sexual orientation out of the story of his death, considering it was obviously an important part of his life.
Executive Editor Len Downie told Howell "that there was no proof that Rogers was gay and no clear indication that, if he was, he wanted the information made public. Downie said that what Rogers's friends said and the fact that Rogers was a former treasurer of American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) were not enough. Downie pointed out that many straight journalists belong to the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association."
She concluded: "The Post was right to be cautious, but there was enough evidence -- particularly of Rogers's feelings about 'don't ask, don't tell' -- to warrant quoting his friends and adding that dimension to the story of his life. The story would have been richer for it."
What do you think?
Either way, R.I.P., Maj. Rogers.
-- jpt
March 30, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (24)
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Reading McCain's economic agenda and listening to his speech, it appears that the problem with the last eight years is that we haven't seen enough tax breaks for the wealthy, that economic royalism hasn't been pursued with sufficient vigor, and that the middle and working classes haven't been stiffed sufficiently.
Posted by: RedStateGirl | Mar 30, 2008 11:07:29 PM
It's just sad people can't be who they are.
Posted by: Christine D | Mar 30, 2008 9:38:33 PM
Obama could have this thing wrapped up now...all he has to do is get the supers delegates to back him...but he hasn't. He's already given the supers more than three times as much money as Clinton has...
If ending the race is so important to the party, why haven't the supers just decided to end it? What are they waiting for?
...it's what we're all waiting for....the unknowns about Obama.
Posted by: Alicia | Mar 30, 2008 8:50:38 PM
not politics
Posted by: Alicia | Mar 30, 2008 8:50:08 PM
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