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Pentagon Clears Chaplains To Perform Same-Sex Marriages

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is dead, and now, the military is saying that military chaplains can participate in same-sex union ceremonies if it is allowed by the law and the chaplain’s beliefs.

The new rules are going to send people like Tony Perkins into a crying fit.

The memo that was released on Friday reads “A military chaplain may participate in or officiate any private ceremony, whether on or off a military installation, provided that the ceremony is not prohibited by applicable state and local law. Further a chaplain is not required to participate in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion.”

The new policy comes in the wake of the dissolution of DADT on 20 September.

The Navy had to retract a similar memo about this subject that said that it was alright for chaplains to participate in these unions. Even though chaplains can officiate, the marriages will still not be legally recognized by the United States government or the military due to the presence of the Defense of Marriage Act.

CNN reported that “The latest two-paragraph memo, from Under Secretary of Defense Clifford Stanley, carefully stops short of fully embracing the idea of same-sex marriage, saying that ‘a military chaplain’s participation in a private ceremony does not constitute an endorsement of the ceremony by DoD.’”

In response to guidance issued by the Department of Defense related to chaplains and facilities, The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) released the following statement:

“We are pleased the Department of Defense has made it clear that a military Chaplain is allowed to perform any lawful ceremony that is consistent with his or her beliefs and is not required to perform a ceremony that is inconsistent with those beliefs. We are also pleased that access to military facilities will be granted on a sexual-orientation-neutral basis. The guidance issued today strikes the right balance between respecting the faith traditions of chaplains and affording all service members the same rights under current law. This is another logical step in the direction of full equality for gay and lesbian service members, and we hope the Department will continue to move down that path,” said Army Veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis.