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Maj. Alan Rogers, who died in the Iraq war in January, was out in his private life but not out in the Army. Media outlets that covered his death struggled with how to handle his sexual orientation. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army)
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: CHRIS JOHNSON COMMENTS
 
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 |
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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 ...
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