Two large groups of the U.S. military’s chaplains say they will perform no same-sex weddings.

“A coalition representing more than 2,000 Evangelical Christian military chaplains says its members will not perform homosexual ceremonies,” reports Jeremy Kryn of LifeSiteNews. “The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty announced October 5 that it is joining the Catholic Archdiocese for Military Services to say ‘no’ to the September 30 Pentagon directive authorizing military chaplains to do homosexual marriages.”

The Alliance told Kryn that while the Pentagon acknowledges a chaplain’s right not to participate in homosexual “marriage” ceremonies, the new policy has placed the Pentagon “in the midst of a deeply controversial issue during a time of ongoing war.” In its announcement, the Pentagon said homosexual “marriage” ceremonies could be held at military chapels across the nation.

The Catholic Archdiocese for Military Services said no Catholic chaplains in the military will participate in such ceremonies, pointing to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis, a senior fellow for national security at the Family Research Council told OneNewsNow that the Pentagon’s decision to allow military chaplains to perform same-sex weddings — whether on or off military installations — is telling military clergy to defy the Defense of Marriage Act.

House Armed Services Subcommittee Chairman Todd Akin (R-Mo.)  has also said that the new policy violates the Act.