After coming out, a soldier was allegedly raped by another military member and died by suicide. Her family says it's a hate crime

At 6:40 a.m. May 3, a pair of military chaplains arrived at Carey Harris' home.

"I opened to the door, and I looked right at those two chaplains and I said, 'My daughter committed suicide,'" Harris said. "She's dead."

The chaplains confirmed what she'd dreaded. Her daughter had become withdrawn. Over a few short months, their close relationship had turned distant. Harris knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what.

She would learn in a blur of briefings that her daughter had filed a sexual assault complaint against a fellow service member, that it occurred 10 days after her daughter had disclosed her sexual orientation on Facebook; that she'd expressed thoughts of suicide and been under counseling and a do-not-arm order. 

And that a misstep by the military led to her daughter coming into contact with her alleged assailant, despite a protective order designed to keep them apart. 

Just days after that contact, with her do-not-arm order lapsed, she bought a handgun at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska and took her own life.

Private First Class Kaylie Harris was 21.

Harris' death represents a confluence of currents that have ripped the military for decades: sexual assault, suicide and integrating LGBTQ troops. Her family believes she would have survived if the military had taken her report of sexual assault more seriously and heeded red flags that signaled her deepening mental health crisis. They view the alleged assault that upended her life as a hate crime and want military law changed to protect LGBTQ troops. 

Read More:  USAtoday.com

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