Anticipating the elimination of the military ban on homosexuality, the Office of the Chief of Navy Chaplains has decided that same-sex couples in the Navy will be able to get married in Navy chapels, and that Navy chaplains will be allowed to perform the ceremonies -- if homosexual marriage is legal in the state where the unions are to be performed.
UPDATE 5/11/11: Navy reverses itself -- Admiral Tidd suspends his own directive
-- From "Navy says chaplains may perform same-sex unions" by Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press 5/9/11
Navy chaplains will be trained about their ability to perform same-sex civil marriage ceremonies under new guidance that would take effect if the Defense Department moves to recognize openly gay military service.
Navy officials said Monday that they updated the training after questions came up about civil ceremonies for gay couples. Military training to apply the new law allowing gays to serve openly began earlier this year, and is expected to be complete by mid-summer.
Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said Monday that the federal Defense of Marriage Act does not restrict the types of ceremonies a chaplain may perform in a chapel on a military base. The military would not compel chaplains to perform a same-sex marriage if it is against their religious beliefs.
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From "Navy Allows Chaplains to Perform Same-Sex Unions" by Dave Eberhart, Newsmax.com 5/9/11
Rear Admiral Mark L. Tidd, the Chief of Navy Chaplains, noted via a directive to the field . . . “If the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then the base facilities may be used to celebrate the marriage.”
“Regarding chaplain participation, consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization, a chaplain may officiate a same-sex, civil marriage: if it is conducted in accordance with the laws of the state which permits same-sex marriages or union; and if the chaplain is, according to applicable state and local laws, otherwise fully certified to officiate that state’s marriages,” the directive concludes.
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From "Navy would allow gay weddings on base" by Sam Fellman, Navy Times - Staff writer 5/9/11
The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Responding to questions about the law and the new policy in an email, Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez wrote: “DOMA does not limit the type of religious ceremonies a chaplain may perform in a chapel on a military installation. Chaplains are authorized to perform religious ceremonies consistent with the practices of the chaplain’s faith group in chapels on military installations.”
But conservatives contended this policy violates the Defense of Marriage Act.
“This new guidance from the Navy clearly violates the law,” Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee, said in a statement Monday. “While our president may not like this law, it is unbelievable that our Navy would issue guidance that clearly violates this law. While a state may legalize same-sex marriage, federal property and federal employees, like Navy chaplains, should not be used to perform marriages that are not recognized by federal law.”
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From "Navy Authorizes Chaplains to Perform Same-Sex ‘Marriages’ in Naval Chapels" by Pete Winn, CNSNews.com 5/9/11
Citing "additional legal review" by Navy attorneys, the admiral said the Navy "has concluded that, generally speaking, base facility use is sexual orientation neutral.”
“The administration and various states may be operating as if DOMA doesn't exist, but the Navy and Marine Corps and all the Armed Services are sworn to obey the law, which this new instruction violates,” [said Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo.]
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), said the change in training was a “good example of the type of uncertainty and confusion created in the rush to change the previous policy.”
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Also read Christian Chaplains Likely to Buck Homosexual Training
