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Report: Secy of Navy Investigating Murder of Seaman August Provost

There are new developments in the investigation into the death of Navy Seaman August Provost III, the black gay sailor from Houston brutally murdered at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. Sources close to the investigation report the Secretary of the Navy has dispatched an investigative team to Pendleton. Also, extremely disturbing  and graphic details have emerged of the so-called "random" act of violence.

The official request for an investigation of the August Provost murder was made by San Diego's Democratic Congresswoman Susan Davis, the Chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel. The source says Secretary of the Navy Raymond Mabus "has sent 20 investigators to Camp Pendleton."

The 29-year-old sailor was found brutally murdered in a guard shack at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton on June 30. Provost was shot three times and the structure was burned. Although the Navy has denied specific reports made to Rod 2.0 in a recent article at TIME.com, and claimed Seaman Provost was not tortured, relatives say they were told Provost's "hands and feet were tied, he was gagged, shot three times and his body had been set on fire."

Rose Roy, Provost's aunt who lives outside Houston, said "Provost spoke with her about being harassed and ostracized at Camp Pendleton because he was gay and black." The Navy maintains there is "no evidence" to suggest that this was a hate crime and insists it was "random act" of violence.

Rep. Bob Filner (D) of suburban Chula Vista, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, says his panel will investigate, too, and asked the Defense Department and Marine Corps to determine whether the killing was a hate crime. Filner added: "There's some disturbing elements to this. He was harassed in the days leading up to this."

One "person of interest" remains in custody. Two others are being sought. No formal charges are filed yet.

Roy says it was about a year ago when her nephew told her and his superiors he was being harassed because he was black and gay. San Diego City Commissioner Stampp Corbin, who also is black and gay, has been closely following the investigation and says Provost's lack of recourse is a direct result of the military's failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Commissioner Corbin tells Rod 2.0: "August Provost, and others like him, are often harassed because of the perception they are gay or lesbian, not because of homosexual conduct. If August reported the harassment, would that have been "telling" and therefore lead to a discharge? That is the quandary gay and lesbian military personnel face in these situations."

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, who represents Houston, says she will demand a congressional inquiry into the death of Navy Seaman August Provost III. Provost will be buried tomorrow at Veterans Memorial Cemetery. A candlelight vigil will also take place on Friday at 7:30 pm outside Camp Pendelton.

Navy: There is "No Evidence to Suspect Hate Crime" in Torture and Killing of Black, Gay Sailor

And so it begins. Despite reporting anti-gay harassment for at least one year before his death, and ultimately being tortured and killed in a horrific manner, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service says the brutal killing of U.S. Navy Seaman August Provost III at Camp Pendleton was "a random act unrelated to the his sexuality."

"There is no evidence or information that suggests this is a hate crime," Capt. Matt Brown, director of public affairs for Navy Region Southwest, tells the UPI. "The military also couldn't confirm that Seaman August Provost was harassed in the days before he was killed, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported."

The family is outraged and says otherwise. Provost's sister says family members advised Provost—who had a boyfriend and was open about his sexuality on Facebook and MySpace—to "tell his supervisor" about the repeated homophobic harassment. And more confirmation plus chilling details in the Houston Chronicle: "Rose Roy of Beaumont said her nephew had complained a year before about being harassed for being gay. The 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."

Meanwhile, the political fallout begins. Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of suburban San Diego wants the Defense Department and Marine Corps to investigate whether the killing of the sailor was a hate crime. The powerful Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman will also hold hearings because he was at Pendleton "for over 5 hours the day of the murder and no one in the Navy thought it was important enough" to tell him, says San Diego Commissioner Stampp Corbin in a scathing op-ed. Corbin, who also is black and gay, slams anti-gay Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray, whose district includes Camp Pendleton, as "missing in action."

Corbin writes at SDNN: "Bilbray has not been a friend to the LGBT community and I have to wonder if his silence has to do with Provost being a gay sailor. I cannot imagine Bilbray ignoring the murder on the base for any other reason. The murder has taken place within Bilbray’s district, he is an avid supporter of the military, but he has said nothing, absolutely nothing about the Provost incident. Bilbray is also a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. So Bilbray is a murder at Camp Pendleton unimportant because you don’t like the victim? Are you embarrassed that your support of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell creates a situation where gays and lesbians in the military, like Provost, may be hesitant to tell superiors of harassment because that would be 'telling?'"

NCIS has released the one person held and another "person of interest" is reportedly in custody. When will Naval Investigators charge someone with this brutal homicide? And how much longer will the military continue to pretend torture, shootings and firebombings are routine and "random acts" on United States military installations?

Related ...
Black Gay Sailor Killed, Hate Crime Suspected [R20]
Congressman Wants Investigation into Sailor Murder [R20]

Black Gay Sailor Killed at Camp Pendleton, Hate Crime Suspected

Very disturbing news from California: A 29-year-old sailor is found dead at Camp Pendleton and a "person of interest", a fellow servicemen, is being held in the homicide of the black gay man, the San Diego Union Tribune reports:

The body of August Provost of Houston was discovered in a guard shack on the western edge of the base sometime during the predawn hours, said Doug Sayers, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday to determine the cause of death. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is looking into the death, has taken a 'person of interest' into custody in connection with the case. Charges have not been filed, Sayers said.

Provost enlisted in the Navy in March 2008, and was a boatswain mate seaman who worked on hovercrafts. Provost's Facebook page confirms he is 29-years-old and interested in "men and women." On his MySpace page, Provost referenced dating men and identified another Houston man as "the love of my life."

The suspect is being held at the nearby Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. At least two reports suggest the deceased was involved in a relationship with a man. San Diego gay activists report having "credible" information Provost had previous run-ins with fellow sailors and want NCIS to investigate this as a possible hate crime, NBC 6 reports.

The homicide of August Provost III came on the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates claimed the Pentagon hoped to make "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" investigations—and attitudes toward gay and lesbian servicemembers—more "humane."

Thanks STAMPP CORBIN!

Former Obama LGBT Leadership Council Co-Chair Stampp Corbin Drops Out of DNC Fundraiser

This is major. Stampp Corbin, one of the leading gay supporters of President Barack Obama and the former Co-Chair of the Obama LGBT Leadership Council during the presidential campaign, announces he will not attend the Democratic Party's LGBT fundraiser scheduled next week. Corbin, who is a San Diego City Commissioner and one of the most prominent black gay elected officials in the country, is only the latest high-profile gay not to support the event due to the Justice Department's inflammatory motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.

Corbin explains his reasons in an eloquent op-ed entitled "The DOMA Brief Ruined Everything." It reads in part:

The president says he is a “fierce advocate” for LGBT rights. Really? I don’t think comparing a marriage to my partner, to marrying my niece or sister, is being my fierce advocate. I expect the president will try to distance himself from the brief and even the press statement, but it is too late. If how I feel, as one of the president’s most ardent supporters, is any indication, Obama is in for a world of trouble over the next year with the LGBT community.... Unfortunately, I will see everything that the Obama administration does for LGBT Americans through the lens of the DOMA brief. Meaning, I will be waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop, while praying President Obama delivers on his promises.

Next week, I am boycotting the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council Democratic National Committee event honoring Vice President Biden to drive home my discontent. Many other prominent LGBT donors have also joined in the boycott. Is the announcement of benefits for LGBT federal employees to squash the boycott and the general uproar? Hmm…In politics, money talks. It is unlikely that Obama just put together this announcement in the last week to throw a bone to my community; it has been in the works for many weeks. I would have celebrated loudly had this been announced before the DOMA debacle, but now I will only give polite, muted applause. That pesky DOMA brief has ruined everything.

Mr. President, your DOMA mistake awakened a sleeping giant. He is mad as hell and is not going to take it anymore. You better get LGBT affirming legislation moving quickly or the coffers of the LGBT community will be slammed shut on the fingers of your administration and the DNC.

This will be a significant blow to the DNC and the White House. Corbin created the first-ever LGBT specific advertising for a presidential campaign, those full-page adverts that debuted in LGBT newspapers during the primaries. He has also been one the Administration's most reliable and fiercest gay defenders.

AFTER THE JUMP, watch Stampp Corbin on CNN last Friday. Corbin debated Dan Savage—who incited a race riot in the aftermath of Proposition 8—and defended the Obama Administration's inaction on LGBT rights and tried his best not to discuss the DOMA brief. "We were discussing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'," Corbin tells Savage. "Not DOMA or that brief!" My, what a difference a week makes.

Obama Campaign Buys Ads in Gay Newspapers in Texas and Ohio

This may be the first ever LGBT specific presidential ad.

Just days until the second Super Tuesday in Ohio and Texas and the Barack Obama presidential campaign is targeting the LGBT community in Ohio and Texas. "According to Obama LGBT steering committee member Eric Stern," reports Kerry Eleveld at Advocate.com. "The campaign has just completed an ad buy with queer newspapers in the four largest LGBT markets of those two states—Columbus, Cleveland, Dallas, and Houston."

The full-page ads debut tomorrow in Outlook Weekly of Columbus, the Gay People's Chronicle of Cleveland, the Dallas Voice, and Houston-based OutSmart. Stampp Corbin, the black gay co-chair of Sen. Obama's National LGBT Leadership Council, created the ads and tells Andrew Belonsky at Queerty the media buy "underscore[s] the Senator’s commitment of inclusion" because "it is the first time in any presidential campaign, let alone a primary, for there to be an LGBT specific message in an ad. There were LGBT press ad buys in 2004 but the message was the same message being placed in traditional media."

Meanwhile, the presidential candidate himself—okay, probably a speechwriter—pens a guest editorial at Bil Browning's Bilerico. It's an impressive argument that says simply having strong positions on LGBT issues is only half the battle. "The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones."

It's a powerful message and something we've seen Obama demonstrate to white anti-choice evangelicals, advocating gay rights to the Christian Broadcasting Network and speaking out against homophobia at Ebenezer Baptist.

Obama Makes Gay Ad Buys [Advocate]
Open Letter From B. Obama to LGBT Community [Bilerico]
Obama's Gay Push [Queerty]
Obama's Gay Backers: Stampp Corbin [Queerty]

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