An Update on Ciara

Many of our supporters have asked for an update on the case of Specialist Ciara Durkin (pictured), a lesbian National Guard soldier who died in Afghanistan on September 27.

As the Associated Press reported last night, Army officials have now met with the Durkin family (following calls from SLDN for a thorough investigation) and the military seems to be taking some steps forward in investigating Ciara's death. We know, however, that some military personnel with information relevant to the case may be hesitant to come forward, out of fear that they, too, may be the target of an investigation, because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

As I told the AP, and wrote about on Bilerico yesterday as well, anyone who does have information to share can do so - safely and confidentially - by contacting the legal team here at SLDN. Your conversations with us are protected by attorney-client confidentiality, and we will never reveal the sources of information we obtain.

It is of paramount importance that those who may know the events that led to Ciara's death come forward as soon as possible. As we saw in the 1999 murder of PFC Barry Winchell, it is often information obtained by groups like SLDN - and not by military investigators - that helps to bring the true facts to light.

Anyone with information at Ciara's death can contact our legal team at (202) 328-FAIR, or by email at legal@sldn.org.

Ciara's family has also set up a website with more information about her life, service and death. And, we invite SLDN supporters to join the conversation about this case at Pam's House Blend, too.

- Steve Ralls

SLDN at Lavender Law

It's September, so it must be time for Lavender Law!

For those of you who have never heard of it before, Lavender Law is the annual conference of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (NLGLA). This year, our entire legal team (Sharra Greer, Kathi Westcott, Emily Hecht, and Aaron Tax) packed their bags and headed off to Chicago to share with the LGBT legal community all of the good work SLDN has been doing over the past year and to hear about the latest developments in the LGBT legal world (for Sen. McCain’s benefit -- LGBT means Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender).

This year SLDN really expanded its presence at Lavender Law, participating in four of the nearly thirty break-out sessions at the confernce. This is due not only to the tremendous amount of political attention being focused on the issue of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but also because of the increasing amount of (groundbreaking) work the SLDN legal team has been doing in the impact of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on the families of LGB service members. A growing number of states provide recognition of same-sex relationships; including laws which govern civil unions, marriage, domestic partnerships, health benefits and adoption. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” however, prohibits service personnel from taking advantage of those new opportunities because of the ban on open service and, as a result, a new area of law is beginning to emerge.

Kathi sat on a panel entitled “In the Crosshairs: the Military Family,” where she talked about the plight of gay military families and how “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” impacts -- emotionally, financially, and legally -- the lives of the partners and children of gay service members.

Sharra sat on two panels - one entitled “From FAIR (v. Rumsfeld) to Equal: The Top Five Things Law Students Can Do to Address the Discrimination Inherent in the Solomon Amendment,” and another entitled “LGBT Pro Bono in Private Practice.”

Aaron and Emily, along with SLDN friend and attorney, Bridget Wilson, participated in a mock trial entitled “Representing the Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine in a (Mock) Separation Action and Board Hearing.” Sharra, Kathi, and Bridget served as the judges, Emily served as the defense attorney, and Aaron served as prosecutor. Luckily, for the “service member” involved in the mock trail, he was retained. Its too bad all cases don't have such a happy ending!

From our collegues at Lavender Law we learned that LGBT service members are not alone in the struggles they face. Other members of the community face quite different, but equally heart-wrenching, problems.

For example, we learned that many LGBT foreign nationals seek asylum in the United States because they are prosecuted in their home countries because of their sexual orientation. In some countries, like Iran, people are even executed simply for being gay!

Unfortunately, foreign nationals who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, run into a road block in their asylum applications. They must figure out how to “prove” to the U.S. government that they are in fact gay. We heard the story of a client who went so far as to provide copies of tickets from the Cher concert he once attended -- I don’t recall if he made the cut!

We are already looking forward to next year, when we’ll again be able to meet and share ideas with attorneys at Lambda Legal, the Task Force, and other allied organizations. Maybe Secretary Gates and the new Attorney General will join us for some good times and information sharing!!

-Aaron Tax

A New Tradition in the Old Guard?

As we recently reported here at Frontlines, PFC Christopher Mastromarino, a military police officer in the Army's Old Guard, was convicted on three (trumped up) counts of assault after his superiors began asking fellow soldiers about Mastromarino's sexual orientation. SLDN - along with Congressman Steny Hoyer and Senator Barbara Mikulski - pressed the command in Chris's case to take a close look at the facts and carefully consider if his conviction should stand.

On Friday, the command at the Old Guard appears to have 'rubber-stamped' the conviction, putting into play a series of events that will likely result in Mastromarino being booted from the Army entirely. Chris, who had hoped to become a civilian police officer following his military career, now seems to be the victim of a new tradition in the Old Guard: ferreting out the gays and ignoring the facts.

According to information obtained by SLDN, Chris's command simply signed off on his conviction without reading pleas from SLDN, Congressman Hoyer or Senator Mikulski to consider the shaky nature of the evidence against him. There is no indication that Major General Rowe - who signed off on the conviction along with a stack of other paperwork - even glimpsed or gave thought to the arguments in Chris's favor. Instead, he seems to have gone along with a clearly anti-gay fishing expedition that is being used to fire a soldier who others believe is gay.

There is still the (slight) possibility that the Army Staff Judge Advocate will intervene and overturn Rowe's endorsement of the conviction. But that's unlikely, and in the end, the Army (and the Old Guard) will lose another dedicated soldier to anti-gay animus and antiquated homophobia.

- Steve Ralls

Unions Risky for Military Personnel

As more and more state and local governments recognize same-sex unions, military personnel still need to be very cautious about making their relationships legal in the eyes of the law. As the Associated Press recently reported, there are significant risks for service personnel who choose to register their civil union or, in the case of Massachusetts, wed their partner.

"Marriage or attempted marriage" to a person of the same gender is one of the three things (along with statements and acts) that can lead to dismissal under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." SLDN has documented that some commands have attempted to use this provision to discharge service members who have had civil unions, commitment ceremonies, registered as domestic partners or have been seen purchasing rings with their partners.

"Michael," of Vancouver, is retired from the Navy and told AP that he is holding off on a domestic partnership with his partner of 10 years, who is currently in the Navy Reserves.

"It's just one of those things," he said. "It probably comes from the way you get accustomed to living in the military. It just doesn't come up."

It is an unfortunate but real concern for military couples. Civil union registries and marriage licenses are public documents, available to the Department of Defense. Registering your partnership, if the Pentagon becomes aware of it, could ultimately mean the end of a military career.

Service personnel with questions about civil unions, domestic partnership or marriage should contact SLDN at legal@sldn.org for more information.

- Steve Ralls