by Andrew Keegan

A rear admiral of the U.S. Navy sent the nation’s largest gay political group a letter apologizing for a photograph showing an anti-gay epithet scrawled on a military bomb intended for a target in Afghanistan.

"Your concern about the photograph of an inappropriate comment scrawled on a piece of ordnance aboard the USS Enterprise is both understood and shared by Navy leadership," said Rear Admiral S.R. Pietropaoli in a letter to Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign. According to the letter, Pietropaoli had called Birch on Oct. 17 to discuss the issue, and wrote the letter as a follow-up.

An Associated Press photo of the bomb in question ran Oct. 11 in a British newspaper, Metro. It shows the phrase "HIGHJACK THIS FAGS" written on the bomb. AP distributed the photo without comment, and with a photo caption that ignored the anti-gay epithet scrawled on the weapon.

"A Navy officer signs a bomb attached to the wing of an aircraft on the flight deck of the USS Enterprise in the Arabian Sea. Complete writing on spare fuel tank reads, ‘War Party,’" read the caption, in part.

Pietropaoli’s letter to Birch notes that "there is no written Defense Department guidance governing spontaneous acts of penmanship by our fighting forces. We do, however, expect oversight and leadership on the scene to ensure such actions are appropriate. … Clearly the photograph in question failed to meet our standards, and I assure you that had it been a Defense Department photo, it would never have been released. In this case our commitment to media access to our aircraft carriers meant the AP photographer was free to shoot and file what he or she chose. Navy had no control over the wire service product."

Pietropaoli added a written note on the typed letter to Birch saying, "Appreciate your help in letting folks know our regret on this!"

As the world’s largest news organization, the Associated Press has a responsibility to provide accurate and balanced information, even if it involves reporting on its own staff, according to Cathy Renna, news media director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

"The Associated Press should know better," she said. "So many other media outlets rely on their information that it is crucial they address this photo internally."

But according to Jack Stokes, AP media relations manager, the photo’s circulation was simply a "journalistic error."

"Let’s make it clear, this was not the fault of the photographer," said Stokes. "The fault lies with a breakdown in our photo editing."

The photographer, Jockel Finck, is not an American and had no idea what the phrase meant, Stokes said. AP photographers supply both the photo and caption.

When the photo was brought to the AP’s attention, it was quickly eliminated from circulation. The explanation given to media outlets was that the photo contained an "offensive slur."

The Associated Press is "not planning to do a story on this photo," said Stokes. "It was a journalistic mistake, and that’s the only comment we are making on the subject."

AP also has refused to release the photo to journalists outside the organization who are covering the story and has threatened to take action against publications that publish the photo without AP’s permission.

Activists with GLAAD called the incident "incredible and unbelievable."

"I bet if it were any other nasty slur against any other minority then someone at AP would have noticed," said Renna.

The Associated Press pulled the photo from circulation on Oct. 12, after GLAAD contacted the news agency. But Renna said that’s not what the gay media watchdog organization wanted.

"What’s frustrating is we didn’t want the photo pulled," Renna said. "We want AP to step up and address not only the obvious anti-gay sentiment the message conveys, but also re-evaluate how their own photo desk could be oblivious to such an inappropriate phrase."

"Our newspapers will all run the photo, as part of our coverage of how the U.S. Navy and Associated Press handled the issue," said Chris Crain, editorial director for Window Media LLC, which publishes the Blade and three other gay newspapers that are carrying the story this week.

"For an organization of journalists like AP to try to kill this story is anathema to its supposed mission — to encourage news coverage of important issues of the day," Crain said.

The language displayed on the bomb was also in direct violation of guidelines recently handed down by the Department of Defense dealing with gay servicemembers, said Steve Ralls, spokesperson for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which monitors the issue.

Last year, the Pentagon ordered gay sensitivity training for all branches of the armed services following the hate-motivated 1999 beating death of Barry Winchell, a gay soldier at Fort Campbell, Ky.

"This is definitely not a message to be sending at a time when our nation is supposed to be united against terrorism," Ralls said. "In the worst sense, it emulates the values our troops are fighting against in Afghanistan. It’s truly unfortunate that some have embraced that sense of intolerance among our own troops."

Earlier this month, the Navy and Air Force issued a limited "stop-loss" policy in preparation for the upcoming war on terrorism. The wartime policy allows military commanders to suspend discharges, but gay servicemembers were excluded from the order and can still be discharged under "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."

While Ralls said he doesn’t believe the anti-gay phrase on the bomb has a direct connection to the recent "stop-loss" order, he adds that it didn’t do anything to improve the situation for gays in the service.

"It certainly sent a message that gays were not fit to serve in this conflict," he said.

A Navy spokesperson confirmed the Department of Defense is aware of the photo and deemed the message on the bomb "totally inappropriate."

"The matter will be investigated by either the ship or air squadron commander," said Lt. Pauline Storum.

Storum had no comment on whether disciplinary action would be taken against the individual responsible for the slur.

Pietropaoli’s letter to Birch noted, "The U.S. Navy does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. I sincerely hope this isolated incident will not detract from the hard work and dedication of the thousands of sailors and Marines serving our nation in this war on terrorism. Thank you again for your concern and understanding in this matter."

Kristina Campbell contributed to this report.

This article appeared online:
October 18, 2001


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