On Friday, July 10, the GLBT community honored the life of Seaman August Provost, murdered just outside Camp Pendleton.

“We are here today because we have the right to mourn one of us. Tonight, we are here to remember. Tonight, we are here to send a strong message of solidarity to his family. We are here tonight, because we want the truth and we want justice,” North County LGBT Coalition (NCLGBTC) member Max Disposti said. NCLGBTC was one of two local GLBT organizations that organized the event.

In the early morning of Tuesday, June 30, Seaman August Provost, while on sentry duty at the Assault Craft Unit Five compound at Camp Pendleton, was found dead with several gunshot wounds, said Capt. Matt Brown, a Navy spokesperson for Navy Region Southwest. A fire was also lit near Provost, suggesting that the suspect tried to destroy the evidence, he said. One sailor, taken into custody last week, has been linked to the murder, said Brown. The suspect’s name has not been released.

GLBT community leaders citing military sources initially said that Provost’s death was a hate crime, since he had been harassed because of his sexual orientation and because Provost’s aunt had said the military had told her that her nephew’s mouth had been bound, gagged and burned. Since then, leaders have taken a more conservative stance, saying that whatever the investigation concludes, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy prevented Provost from seeking help.

“No matter what the real reason might turn out to be for Seaman August Provost’s death, we now know that for the majority of his time on active duty, he suffered significantly in silence,” Lisa Kove said, Executive Director of the Department of Defense Federal Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Employees (DOD FED GLOBE), the other organizer of the event, adding that Provost’s suffering was due to the “fact that DADT forced him to have an emotional death.

“He could not live his final year of his life being who he really was,” she said.

“If August Provost would have had the possibility to talk to someone, to report to his official, to say what was going on, maybe we wouldn’t have had this tonight,” Disposti said.

More than 150 people turned out for the vigil, many dressed in funeral attire, at the corner of Monterey Drive and North Coast Highway in Oceanside.

“August Provost was our brother. He was a member of our community. Take comfort knowing that he is in a better place. Take comfort knowing that he came from a loving family,” said American Veterans for Civil Rights San Diego Chapter President Ben Gomez.

Gomez and others asked the audience to use Provost’s murder as a rallying call to take action against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).

“For those of you that retain anger, honor August by focusing your energy on supporting the repeal of DADT. Use this energy to convince our local congressional members who do not support those serving in silence,” Gomez said.

Volunteers passed out white carnations and lit candles to attendees, many holding signs that read, “One is too many. Silence = death”; “Gays Love. Hate kills”; and “No more lives lost to hate.”

Evelyn Thomas, a lesbian veteran and NCLGBTC member read a poem she wrote for the event called, “My Brother.”

“People will remember your name, my brother. We will make sure that you did not die in vain, my brother. My brother, oh how I wish, I wish, you were here, my brother,” Thomas read.

Near the end, local community activist Cecile Veillard read from a list of more than 100 names of national GLBT hate crime victims and suicides, while Kove and Northern California activist Robin McGehee stood beside her.

“Michael Despain, 6 June, 1994, 24 years old. Thomas Frazee, 12 Dec. 1994, 28 years old. Brian Wilmes, 13 March, 1998, 45 years old … .”

Local transgender activist Brenda Watson who stood behind Veillard, Kove and McGehee tapped a bell with a metal stick for each name Veillard read.

Afterward, attendees walked a few steps to a memorial display, which included two flower wreaths held up on a metal frame, draped by an American flag and a banner with Provost’s image, and a makeshift coffin, where they placed their carnations.

DOD FED GLOBE has created a letter template to request a congressional inquiry to ensure that Provost’s death receives a proper investigation, Kove said. The template can be accessed online by visiting www.dodfedglobe.com or www.northcountylgbtcoalitionforce.org.