Gay sailor harassed, murdered at Camp Pendleton in California
July 2, 2009 at 5:26 pm by David WarnerIn a case that suggests the potentially dangerous consequences of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, a gay sailor was found murdered on his base, Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California, early Tuesday morning. He had recently complained to family members that he was being harassed.
The sailor, August Provost, kept his private life quiet for the most part, but trusted that his friends knew, according to an interview with his partner in the San Diego Union-Tribune. His family had encouraged him to report the harassment to a supervisor. It’s not clear whether he did, or whether he even could have; admitting that he’d been harassed could have led to admission that he was gay, which is grounds for dismissal from the Navy. In an online article for San Diego’s Gay and Lesbian Times, the chair of the San Diego Human Relations Commission, openly gay City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez (pictured right), refers to sources on the base that say the harassment was in fact gay-related and that Provost had been facing a possible discharge based on his sexual orientation.
Murray-Ramirez says there was a long delay between the murder and public release of information, noting that U.S. Congressman Bob Filner was on the base Tuesday and was not informed of the murder. The Human Relations Commission is calling for an investigation into whether this was a hate crime. Meanwhile, a “person of interest” is being held in custody. Read the full text of the Union-Tribune story after the break.
Union-Tribune Staff WriterOriginally published 11:59 p.m. July 1, 2009, updated 8:30 a.m., July 2, 2009
CAMP PENDLETON — A person was being held in connection with the suspected homicide of a 29-year-old sailor who was found in a Camp Pendleton guard shack, Navy officials said yesterday.
The body of Seaman August Provost of Houston was discovered about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday on the western edge of the base, said Doug Sayers, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest.
An autopsy was completed yesterday, but authorities were waiting for results of toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.
A “person of interest” was being held in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. No charges have been filed.
The death has local gay activists calling for an investigation into whether Provost was slain because of his sexual orientation. “We’re definitely monitoring this, and trust and hope the military will investigate this in the professional way it should,” said Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of San Diego’s Human Rights Commission.
Murray-Ramirez said he had asked two San Diego members of Congress, Reps. Susan Davis and Bob Filner, to make official inquiries with the military.
Provost’s partner, Kaether Cordero, said Provost was openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part.
“People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero said from Houston. “He didn’t care that they knew. He trusted them.”
Provost had recently complained to family members about a person who was harassing him, so they advised him to tell his supervisor, said his sister, Akalia Provost of Houston.
“He’s the type that if someone comes at him, he walks away. He never stands and argues,” she said. “He didn’t deserve anything but a good life.”
Provost was assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 at Camp Pendleton. He had completed three years of college before joining the Navy in March 2008 to help finance his education, and was studying to become an architectural engineer.
