Ciara Durkin

Ciara Marie Durkin (July 6, 1977 – September 28, 2007) was an American soldier who died while serving in Afghanistan. Born in Ireland, she was the first openly lesbian soldier to die in Operation Enduring Freedom. Her death was initially misreported as a result of combat. A lack of information surrounding the details of her death quickly caused controversy when connections were drawn between her death and sexual orientation. Durkin's death was later ruled a suicide, leading to conversations about the dangers of false reporting and the wider narrative regarding suicide among members of the military.

Biography Ciara Durkin was born in 1977 in Galway, Ireland to Tom and Angela Durkin. She was the eighth of nine children. When she was nine years old, she moved with her family to the United States where they lived in Quincy, Massachusetts. Her father died of a heart attack shortly after the family arrived in the United States. In 1996, she graduated from Fontbonne Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. She later went on to a career in information technology.

Military career In October 2005, after being made redundant from her role at Fenway Health, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender health care, research and advocacy organization, Durkin joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Prior to her military service, Durkin was open about her sexual orientation as a lesbian and volunteered for gay rights causes. Despite the ongoing military policy of "Don't ask, don't tell", Durkin joined the military to serve her country and give back. In Afghanistan, Durkin worked in a finance role doing payroll in an office within Bagram Air Base. Her office was reportedly three miles inside the base's secure perimeter.

Death and aftermath On September 28, 2007, Specialist Durkin died of a single gunshot wound outside the chapel at Bagram Air Base. At the time of her death, Durkin's unit of the Massachusetts National Guard Army reported Durkin's death was from combat-related injuries and that she had "died in action" in Afghanistan.

Durkin's death was recognized as the first openly gay member of the military to be killed in Afghanistan or Iraq. Knowing she worked in a secure area, the Durkin family initially suspected her death was accidental or the result of friendly fire.

After homicide was "not ruled out" in the days following, and the military declined to release further information, parties external to the Durkin family speculated publicly that Durkin's sexual orientation could be a possible motive. and LGBT/ queer aligned press outlets such as Pink News and GO Magazine, others soon raised concerns connecting Durkin's sexuality and death. On October 8, 2007, Aaron Belkin of the Palm Center, a research institute and think tank released a statement,“While the facts in this case await investigation, we are concerned about the ways in which the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy could obstruct military investigators’ ability to obtain a full account of the circumstances of a gay or lesbian service member’s death". Others suggested Durkin's sexuality created a rationale for the Army and the mainstream press to "ignore" her case. In response to increased attention, the Durkin family asked the Irish government and their congressional representatives to press the military for answers. Pressure by the Irish government, Senator John Kerry, and Representative Ted Kennedy put a spotlight on Durkin's case. Seeking information, Kerry helped the Durkin family arrange a second private autopsy of Durkin's body prior to her cremation.

Nine months after her death, the investigation returned the cause of suicide, caused by one gunshot to the head. Durkin's family openly questioned the conclusion of suicide. They recounted that Durkin was upbeat before her death, suggesting that Durkin was killed in a hate crime for her sexual orientation, or possibly as in the Pat Tillman case, that she had been killed in a friendly fire incident that the Army was covering up. In releases after the conclusion of the investigation, allegations connecting Durkin's sexual orientation, death and a possible "cover-up" by the Army, overshadowed reports suggesting that Durkin was actively suicidal at the time of her death. In 2008, a portion of Durkin's cremated remains were laid to rest with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.