With Veterans Day this month, LGBT activist Michael Petrelis wanted to shed light on Allen Schindler, a gay man who was murdered in Japan in 1992 while serving in the Navy.
Over 20 years after Schindler’s shipmate, Terry Helvey, was sentenced to life in prison for beating him to death in the restroom of a public park, Petrelis made public 900 pages of documents, which are available at http://ow.ly/UA3Tb, relating to the investigation and trial of the case. He filed a Freedom of Information Act request and received the documents over the summer.
“It just became time to ask the Navy, ‘What’s in your files?’” said Petrelis, a Newark, N.J., native now living in San Francisco. He said he had to take some time away from the horrific case before revisiting it with the documents.
“I did think about how far we have come in terms of gay folks serving in the military,” he said, referring to the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” which had prevented gay men and lesbians from serving openly.
“It’s part of bearing witness for me and trying to reclaim him a bit,” said Petrelis, who made two weeklong trips to Sasebo and Tokyo in 1993 for Helvey’s preliminary hearing and trial. “Let’s not lose sight of Allen Schindler’s life.”
Some highlights from the documents include excerpts from Schindler’s journal, which he started around the time of asking his superiors to discharge him because he was facing harassment for being gay. Schindler was not granted his request.
In transcripts of witness interviews from the murder investigation, Navy officials had to grant some of Schindler’s colleagues immunity to speak. They worried they would face persecution under the military’s anti-sodomy laws.
Another shipmate, Charles Vins, confessed to kicking and stomping Schindler in the restroom, but only served a four-month sentence in exchange for testimony against Helvey.
Medical examinations also detailed the post-mortem rape test and Schindler’s injuries. Petrelis said Schindler’s face was so pulverized in the fatal beating that the man’s mother couldn’t immediately identify him.
Petrelis said he wants to urge other LGBT activists to file requests for information from the federal government.
“Other gay people have had their lives covered up and people have denied the harm we have faced,” he said, noting people could also find information on LGBT people in unions or schools by filing requests with the departments of Labor or Education.
“I want to put all the documents out there so our history isn’t lost,” Petrelis said.
He isn’t the only one interested in transparency of information. The American Civil Liberties Union this month launched a Mobile Justice app in 18 cities and states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The app encourages users to use their camera phones to record police interactions with the public. The footage is immediately shared with the local ACLU and offers access to the organization’s full library, explaining the public’s rights when witnessing an incident with law enforcement.
For more information, visit www.aclupa.org/education/mobile-justice-pa.