The
death
of
a
gay
soldier
in
Iraq
is
drawing
renewed
attention
to
how
the
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy
—
and
the
mainstream
media
—
help
ensure
that
gays
stay
in
the
closet,
even
in
death.
Maj.
Alan
Rogers,
40,
a
gay
intelligence
officer
who
served
on
a
military
transition
team
that
trained
Iraqi
soldiers,
died
Jan.
27
in
Baghdad
from
wounds
caused
by
an
improvised
explosive
device
that
detonated
near
him
while
he
was
conducting
a
patrol
on
his
Humvee.
He
was
buried
at
Arlington
National
Cemetery
on
March
14.
For
sacrificing
his
life
in
the
line
of
duty,
the
Army
posthumously
awarded
Rogers
a
Purple
Heart
and
a
second
Bronze
Star.
Tony
Smith,
a
friend
of
Rogers’,
described
him
as
“very
positive”
and
“very
outgoing.”
Smith
and
Rogers
worked
together
in
the
D.C.
chapter
of
American
Veterans
for
Equal
Rights,
a
group
that
works
to
change
military
policy
toward
gays.
Rogers
was
out
to
friends
in
the
Washington
area,
but
“had
to
obviously
be
careful
[about
being
out]
to
too
many
people
because
he
was
active
duty
military,”
Smith
said.
Rogers,
a
D.C.
resident
since
about
2004,
entered
the
Army
in
1990
and
served
in
the
first
Persian
Gulf
War
and
was
on
a
second
tour
of
duty
in
Iraq
when
he
died.
Mainstream
media
coverage
of
Rogers’
death
coincided
with
the
grim
milestone
of
4,000
U.S.
service
members
killed
in
Iraq
and
the
five-year
anniversary
of
the
invasion.
But
the
media
reports
about
Rogers’
death
omitted
any
mention
of
his
sexual
orientation.
The
Washington
Post,
National
Public
Radio
and
the
Gainesville
Sun,
the
local
newspaper
in
his
hometown
of
Hampton,
Fla.,
made
no
mention
of
his
sexual
orientation
or
his
involvement
with
a
group
that
works
to
overturn
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell.”
Lynn
Medford,
Metro
editor
for
the
Post,
said
the
newspaper
debated
whether
or
not
to
disclose
Rogers’
sexual
orientation
and
ultimately
decided
not
to
include
such
information
as
a
matter
of
ethics.
Rogers
to
some
degree
“kept
his
orientation
private”
and
outing
him
after
his
death
would
“take
a
decision
out
of
his
hands,”
she
said.
Rogers
had
no
partner
and
no
immediate
family
to
consult
with
to
determine
what
his
wishes
would
be,
Medford
noted.
“We
had
no
way
of
knowing
what
his
wishes
were,
and
that’s
what
we
came
down
and
decided
on,”
she
said.
Deborah
Howell,
ombudsman
for
the
Washington
Post,
reiterated
that
Post
editors
decided
there
was
no
proof
Rogers
was
gay
and
no
evidence
Rogers
would
want
to
be
publicly
known
as
gay
after
death.
The
Post
has
a
policy
of
not
mentioning
a
person’s
sexual
orientation
unless
it
is
germane
to
the
story,
she
said.
“They
just
felt
it
was
a
matter
of
privacy
and
they
neither
knew
his
wishes
nor
felt
comfortable
with
[discussing
his
sexual
orientation],”
she
said.
Karen
Voyles,
who
wrote
articles
on
Rogers
for
the
Gainesville
Sun,
said
she
did
not
include
information
about
Rogers’
sexual
orientation
because
she
found
no
evidence
that
Rogers
was
gay.
“It
just
never
came
up,”
she
said.
“We
covered
this
as
a
casualty
of
the
war,
and
that
wasn’t
something
that
anybody
addressed.”
Steve
Inskeep,
who
covered
Rogers’
funeral
for
National
Public
Radio,
did
not
return
calls
seeking
comment.
Smith
said
he
thinks
it’s
very
important
for
Rogers’
“whole
story
to
get
out,”
including
information
that
he
was
gay.
“It’s
something
I
know
that
Alan
would
want,”
he
said.
“I
don’t
know
why
they
decided
to
leave
the
story
out
that
he
was
gay,
but
…
it
saddens
me
as
a
gay
veteran
myself.
It
saddens
me
that
part
of
his
life
…
can’t
be
told.”
Both
of
Rogers’
adoptive
parents
are
deceased
and
he
was
the
only
child
in
the
family.
His
closest
living
relative
is
his
cousin,
Cathy
Long,
who
lives
in
Florida,
sources
said.
An
intermediary
said
Long
did
not
want
to
comment
for
this
article.
Donna
St.
George,
a
Post
staff
writer
who
wrote
about
Rogers’
funeral,
said
she
received
an
e-mail
from
an
Army
casualty
officer
stating
that
the
deceased’s
family
was
“nervous”
about
how
Rogers
was
going
to
be
portrayed
in
the
Post
article.
The
casualty
officer
did
not
mention
the
word
“gay”
or
the
phrase
“sexual
orientation”
in
the
e-mail,
St.
George
said.
A
decision
had
already
been
made
about
how
the
Post
would
handle
Rogers’
sexual
orientation
by
the
time
the
e-mail
was
received,
although
the
article
was
not
yet
published,
she
said.
Shari
Lawrence,
spokesperson
for
Army
human
resources,
did
not
return
calls
seeking
comment.
Galen
Grant,
a
retired
Army
captain
and
psychologist
at
a
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
clinic
in
South
Carolina,
said
that
although
the
military
“is
proud
to
flaunt
[Rogers]
as
one
of
the
soldiers,
they
want
it
kept
secret
that
he
was
gay.”
Rogers
intended
to
stay
in
the
Army
until
he
retired,
Grant
said.
Rogers’
friends
say
that
he
was
devoted
both
to
his
duties
as
a
soldier
and
efforts
to
change
military
policy.
For
a
time
starting
in
October
2004,
Rogers
served
as
treasurer
of
the
D.C.
chapter
of
American
Veterans
for
Equal
Rights.
Smith
said
Rogers
was
“very
active
in
the
group”
and
involved
in
social
events
and
community
outreach
projects.
“Whenever
he
came
into
a
room,
his
presence
…
immediately
lifted
the
environment
and
the
spirits
of
everyone,”
Smith
said.
Smith
said
Rogers
was
“someone
who
loved
being
in
the
Army.”
“He
was
a
soldier
before
anything
else,”
he
said.
“He
loved
serving
his
country.”
Smith
said
he
received
an
e-mail
from
Rogers
Jan.
26
—
the
day
before
he
died.
Rogers
recalled
some
good
times
he
had
with
D.C.
friends
and
asked
about
other
friends
who
were
serving
overseas,
Smith
said.
More
than
100
mourners
attended
Rogers’
funeral
and
were
a
“mix
of
people
from
all
over
the
world,”
Smith
said.
Patrick
High,
another
...
