Frontlines: The Latest from OutServe-SLDN

A New Tradition in the Old Guard?

As we recently reported here at Frontlines, PFC Christopher Mastromarino, a military police officer in the Army's Old Guard, was convicted on three (trumped up) counts of assault after his superiors began asking fellow soldiers about Mastromarino's sexual orientation. SLDN - along with Congressman Steny Hoyer and Senator Barbara Mikulski - pressed the command in Chris's case to take a close look at the facts and carefully consider if his conviction should stand. On Friday, the command at the Old Guard appears to have 'rubber-stamped' the conviction, putting into play a series of events that will likely result in Mastromarino being booted from the Army entirely. Chris, who had hoped to become a civilian police officer following his military career, now seems to be the victim of a new tradition in the Old Guard: ferreting out the gays and ignoring the facts. According to information obtained by SLDN, Chris's command simply signed off on his conviction without reading pleas from SLDN, Congressman Hoyer or Senator Mikulski to consider the shaky nature of the evidence against him. There is no indication that Major General Rowe - who signed off on the conviction along with a stack of other paperwork - even glimpsed or gave thought to the arguments in Chris's favor. Instead, he seems to have gone along with a clearly anti-gay fishing expedition that is being used to fire a soldier who others believe is gay. There is still the (slight) possibility that the Army Staff Judge Advocate will intervene and overturn Rowe's endorsement of the conviction. But that's unlikely, and in the end, the Army (and the Old Guard) will lose another dedicated soldier to anti-gay animus and antiquated homophobia. - Steve Ralls

Labels: in the news, legal aid, sldn clients

08-21-07