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(Sierra Vista, Arizona) A soldier says he has
requested a discharge from the military after his sexual orientation made him a
target for attacks.
Private Kyle Lawson says he was
punched in the face by a fellow member of a training unit at
Fort Huachuca at an off-post party in October after a friend
let it slip that Lawson was gay.
The soldier accused of hitting
Lawson told police that Lawson made sexually suggestive
remarks.
The Sierra Vista police officer
who investigated the case says "there was no
provocation."
Lawson told police that the
soldier who broke his nose used a profane anti-gay slur. He
said a second soldier threatened him with a knife outside a
barracks as word spread about his sexual orientation.
Now, he is so concerned about
his personal safety he's sleeping on a cot in his drill
sergeant's office.
"I can't keep living a
lie. It's not safe for me here," Lawson told the Arizona
Star.
Police charged Lawson's alleged
attacker with felony aggravated assault - a charge that draws
an average 3 1/2 years in prison upon conviction in Arizona,
more if a judge finds the crime was hate-based.
But, the army has done little
to prosecute the alleged attacker in a military court. Lawson
said as far as he knows, his attacker was punished by losing
some privileges, such as having his weekend pass revoked.
"Pentagon leaders have
consistently refused to take harassment seriously, and our men
and women in uniform continue to pay the price," said
Sharra E. Greer, SLDN’s director of law and policy.
"Service members
report harassment, violence and threats to SLDN on a regular
basis. At least two service members have been murdered because
of unchecked anti-gay harassment. Yet military leaders
have utterly failed to send a strong, clear message that
anti-gay harassment is unacceptable or that those who harass
will be held accountable for their actions," said Greer.
Fort Huachuca spokeswoman Tanja
Linton says that although the Army didn't take the case to
court, commanders took appropriate action.
©365Gay.com 2005
with files from the Associated Press
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