US Military Scrubs Deceased Gay Soldier's Wiki Entry

Posted by Pam Spaulding, Pam's House Blend at 2:00 PM on April 3, 2008.

Man, how sick is this? The recloseting by the media and the military of Maj. Alan Rogers, who served in Iraq and was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a second Bronze Star was bad enough, but now someone at the Pentagon decided that even Rogers Wikipedia entry needs to be de-gayed. (Washington Blade):

The user on Monday redacted details about Rogers that appeared on the online encyclopedia site. Information that was deleted included Rogers' sexual orientation; the soldier's participation in American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group that works to change military policy toward gays; and the fact that Rogers' death helped bring the U.S. military's casualty toll in Iraq to 4,000.

Rob Pilaud, a patent agent and a friend of Rogers who attended the soldier's funeral, restored the information to the Wikipedia article the next day. Pilaud was among Rogers' friends who created the Wikipedia page.

The anonymous poster also provided the following comment in the "discussion" section about the article:

"Alan's life was not about his sexual orientation but rather about the body of work he performed ministering to others and helping the defense of the country," the poster wrote. "Quit trying to press an agenda that Alan wouldn't have wanted made public just to suit your own ends."

The IP address attached to the deletion of the details and the posted comments is 141.116.168.135. The address belongs to a computer from the office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2) at the Pentagon. The office is headed by Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, who was present at Rogers' funeral and presented the flag from Rogers' coffin to his cousin, Cathy Long.

The Army's public affairs office did not return a call seeking comment.

As we learned in the Chris Johnson's earlier Blade piece on Rogers, the late service member was hardly in the closet -- he went out to clubs in DC with and even served for a time as treasurer for American Veterans for Equal Rights working to end DADT.

More below the fold.

Rogers was closeted to the extent that he couldn't serve openly in the military because he would be discharged under the discriminatory law, not because he was uncomfortable with his homosexuality.

The media's role in this has been disturbing.  The WaPo simply omitted the information that Rogers was treasurer for American Veterans for Equal Rights.

Eric Hegedus, president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists' Association, said the Post ombudsman deserves commendation for arguing that the Post could have gone further in the story.

Hegedus said it was ridiculous for the Post to omit that Rogers was a treasurer in the American Veterans for Equal Rights.

"If he was a former treasurer, it's something that he was passionate about and why wouldn't you mention something like that?" Hegedus asked.

Pilaud said it must have been "a lucky coincidence" that NPR did not find out that Rogers was gay because it was apparent at the funeral. Missing the gay flag and AIDS ribbon lapel pins on Rogers' friends would have been difficult, Pilaud said.

"If NPR made any effort at the funeral at Arlington National or if they did any kind of follow-up, I can't imagine how they could have missed that," Pilaud said.

Related:

* Media and military closets gay soldier killed in Iraq
* WaPo ombudsman: paper wrong to recloset deceased gay soldier  

Tagged as: gay rights, wikipedia, homophobia, washington post, us military, rogers

Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.