A
Wikipedia
article
about
Maj.
Alan
Rogers,
a
gay
soldier
who
was
killed
in
January
in
Iraq,
was
apparently
edited
by
someone
in
the
Pentagon,
who
removed
any
mention
that
Rogers
was
gay.
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.
Why
did
editor
Len
Downie
go
to
such
lengths
to
hide
the
simple
fact
that
a
soldier
was
gay?
Blade
shouldn’t
have
outed
gay
soldier
killed
in
Iraq |
|
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.
Pilaud
noted
that
while
the
computer
where
the
changes
originated
can
be
found,
the
identity
of
the
user
remains
unknown.
“Obviously,
we
still
don’t
know
who
accessed
the
computer
at
this
IP
address
—
it
could
have
been
a
general,
it
could
have
been
a
civilian
contractor,
it
could
have
been
anyone
with
access
to
their
computer,”
he
said.
At
Rogers’
funeral
Kimmons
acted
“very
business-like”
and
was
respectful
toward
the
fallen
soldier
and
his
family,
Pilaud
said.
Pilaud
is
asking
Rogers’
friends
for
biographical
information
on
the
fallen
solider
to
enhance
the
Wikipedia
article.
Pilaud
said
he
thinks
the
online
article
should
“be
a
balanced
view
of
his
life,”
disclose
the
fact
that
Rogers
was
gay
and
discuss
Rogers’
feelings
on
military
policy
toward
gays.
“With
Wikipedia,
at
least,
I
simply
want
to
present
objective
information
about
Alan
—
about
who
he
was,
what
he
did
with
his
life
and
what
he
would
have
wanted,”
he
said.
Rogers,
40,
was
killed
Jan.
27
in
Iraq
when
an
improvised
explosive
device
hit
his
Humvee.
The
Army
posthumously
awarded
him
a
Purple
Heart
and
a
second
Bronze
Star.
He
was
buried
in
Arlington
National
Cemetery
on
March
14.
Rogers’
death
caused
controversy
because
media
sources
such
as
the
Washington
Post
and
National
Public
Radio
did
not
mention
that
Rogers
was
gay
in
coverage
of
the
soldier.
Deborah
Howell,
ombudsman
for
the
Post,
wrote
a
column
on
the
Post’s
coverage
of
Rogers’
death
and
said
the
Post
originally
planned
to
include
his
sexual
orientation
in
its
coverage.
Executive
Editor
Len
Downie,
however,
decided
to
excise
that
information
because
there
was
no
proof
that
Rogers
was
gay
and
no
indication
the
soldier
wanted
his
sexual
orientation
to
be
made
public,
Howell
said.
Howell
concluded
that
the
Post
story
“would
have
been
richer”
if
it
had
disclosed
Rogers’
sexual
orientation,
particularly
because
his
feelings
on
the
“Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell”
policy
were
known.
The
media
coverage
of
Rogers’
death
is
causing
gay
organizations
and
journalism
scholars
to
question
the
appropriate
way
to
handle
gay
subjects
in
the
media.
The
Post’s
decision
to
omit
Rogers’
sexual
orientation
from
its
coverage
is
the
not
first
time
a
major
media
source
withheld
such
information.
When
filmmaker
Ismail
Merchant
died
in
2005,
most
mainstream
media
sources
did
not
mention
that
James
Ivory
was
his
partner.
Similarly,
many
media
outlets
did
not
mention
that
Susan
Sontag
had
a
female
partner
in
coverage
of
her
death
in
2004.
Roy
Clark,
a
senior
scholar
and
the
vice
president
of
the
Poynter
Institute,
a
journalism
school
based
in
St.
Petersburg,
Fla.,
said
the
Post
made
“a
big
mistake”
by
not
disclosing
information
on
Rogers’
sexual
orientation
in
the
article
about
him.
Clark
emphasized
that
he
spoke
for
himself
and
not
on
behalf
of
the
Poynter
Institute.
“It’s
obvious
that
…
this
was
not
just
a
private
part
of
his
life,
but
it
was
a
public
part
of
his
life
and
his
identity
and
his
belief
system,”
he
said.
With
matters
relating
to
sexual
orientation
still
a
matter
of
debate
in
the
United
States,
Rogers’
sexual
orientation
would
have
been
a
newsworthy
portion
of
the
story,
Clark
said.
Eric
Hegedus,
president
of
the
National
Lesbian
and
Gay
Journalists’
Association,
said
the
Post
ombudsman
deserves
...
