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Post from Tanya Paperny's Blog:
Lesbian National Guard Soldier Shot Dead
By Tanya Paperny - Oct 3rd, 2007 at 3:41 pm EDT
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Tags: Afghanistan, hate crimes, Lesbian, national guard
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Ciara Durkin, a lesbian National Guard soldier stationed in Afghanistan, was killed on Friday in a "non-combat-related incident."

Durkin's family is demanding a full investigation into her death after mixed reports from the National Guard and Army gave inconsistent causes for her death.

The army has most recently said that Durkin was "found with a single bullet in her head, lying near the church where she worshipped on the secure Bagram Airfield."

Durkin's family say that while stationed in Afghanistan, she wrote concerned letters back home about "what she saw there" and insisted that the family should investigate if "anything happened to her."  They want to know if she was killed because she was a lesbian.

Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry are also on board, pressuring the Defense Deparment to reveal the events surrounding Durkin's death.

This may or may not have been an intentional hate crime, but let's keep our eyes peeled for developments in the story. 

Story via Towerload.com


Reader Comments

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Judging from the snippets you've given...
By Superduperficial Oct 3rd 2007 at 7:14 pm EDT
...it sounds like there's something significantly worse than a hate crime at work here. Sounds like she was witness to something pretty nasty.

I don't blame her family one bit for refusing to buy the official CYA line on how their daughter died. There are plenty of incidents to point to as evidence that this is one area where military officals will be more than happy to lie to your face.
  
do you know?
By hillary_b Oct 4th 2007 at 3:39 am EDT
any word on how they knew she was queer for this story? obvy not from the military...
Re: do you know?
By Tanya Paperny Oct 4th 2007 at 12:15 pm EDT
The family knew. The sister said in an interview:

"Ciara was a lesbian, and that's bound to come out. It is possible that someone over there found that out, and, you know, maybe they were very homophobic."

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Prayer for her, and family and friends.
By JBeacH Oct 4th 2007 at 8:07 am EDT
Following prayer above, focus needs to be on THE CRIME and finding those responsible. Whether or not this was a hate crime or a coverup or just a horrible way to say get lost, find those responsible and prosecute for murder/manslaughter. The rest can follow. And yes hold the military accountable. Like the Pat Tillman story, armed forces are reluctant to make all facts known.
  
Women Need to be Careful When Deployed
By Sonya Oct 4th 2007 at 5:18 pm EDT
Not only will the males not look out for you, if you don't fall in the particular mold they desire, they will apparently kill you.

How many U.S. service women have been raped now by their fellow soldiers? Now we have one killed. So much for comraderie. Apparently the boys only take care of the boys!
Re: Women Need to be Careful When Deployed
By Superduperficial Oct 4th 2007 at 7:33 pm EDT
Sexual assaults of women in the military are a HUGE problem, I agree.

That said, judging from everything I'm reading here, it sounds like this was more about a cover-up than something to do with her sexuality. Of course, it's very early on, so who knows, but that seems like the more likely direction this'll go.
  
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