{"id":552,"date":"2011-05-09T17:28:37","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T21:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=552"},"modified":"2011-05-09T17:28:37","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T21:28:37","slug":"navy-authorizes-chaplains-to-perform-same-sex-%e2%80%98marriages%e2%80%99-in-naval-chapels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2011\/05\/navy-authorizes-chaplains-to-perform-same-sex-%e2%80%98marriages%e2%80%99-in-naval-chapels.html","title":{"rendered":"Navy Authorizes Chaplains to Perform Same-Sex \u2018Marriages\u2019 in Naval Chapels"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pete Winn<\/p>\n

\"\"
Do you want this in Navy Chapels married by a Navy Chaplin?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"(CNSNews.com) \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

The advisory came in the form of an April 13 memo issued to all chaplains, in which the Chief of Navy Chaplains, Admiral Michael Tidd, said the Chaplain Corps was revising its Tier I training manuals, which had previously indicated that same-sex marriages are not authorized on federal property.<\/p>\n

Instead, Tidd called for chaplains to comply with service-wide efforts underway to be more accepting of homosexuality and same-sex marriage as the end of the military policy on homosexuality nears.<\/p>\n

Citing “additional legal review” by Navy attorneys, the admiral said the Navy “has concluded that, generally speaking, base facility use is sexual orientation neutral.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then the base facilities may be used to celebrate the marriage,\u201d the admiral\u2019s directive states.<\/p>\n

The admiral\u2019s memo also gives chaplains permission to “marry” homosexual couples \u2013 but would not force them to perform ceremines.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding 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\u2019s marriages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navy spokeswoman Alana Garas confirmed the change was ordered, but told CNSNews.com that the document \u201cdoes not reflect a change in policy, but a change in Tier I training for Navy chaplains that looks forward to when Don\u2019t Ask Don\u2019t Tell is removed\u201d\u2014 something which will not happen, she said, until 60 days after the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify to Congress that repeal will not harm military readiness.<\/p>\n

But Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is concerned that, in its haste to \u201chustle-in homosexuality,\u201d the Navy may be violating federal law \u2013 the Defense of Marriage Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cOffering up federal facilities and federal employees for same-sex marriage violates DOMA, which is still the law of the land and is bound to the duties of our military, including chaplains,\u201d Steve Taylor, communications director for Akin, told CNSNews.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d he added.
\nTom McCLusky, senior vice president of government relations at the Family Research Council, agreed that the Navy is totally ignoring DOMA, part of which defines marriage for federal government purposes as being between one man and one woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about government facilities and government employees, so it would seem to be a direct violation of DOMA,\u201d McClusky told CNSNews.com. \u201cI\u2019m not seeing a lot of wiggle room there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said conservatives had warned months ago that the push to repeal the military ban on homosexuality would lead to efforts to introduce same-sex marriage — but were dismissed at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we thought was going to happen, and unfortunately now its happening,\u201d McClusky said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the military is getting out in front on this issue and when you have a president who doesn\u2019t believe the Defense of Marriage Act is a law he needs to follow, it\u2019s no surprise that the military would follow his lead,\u201d he added. \u201cThe president may think he\u2019s above the law, but he\u2019s not. If he has a problem with the Defense of Marriage Act, that\u2019s something that he needs to address legislatively, not just by ignoring it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), said the change in training was a \u201cgood example of the type of uncertainty and confusion created in the rush to change the previous policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to make sense of this issue, for example, is something that should have been thought out beforehand \u2013 assuming the administration was even serious about doing this efficiently, fairly and respectfully,\u201d Hunter\u2019s communications director Joe Kasper told CNSNews.com.<\/p>\n

Hunter plans on offering an amendment to the annual defense bill to require that all of the chiefs of the armed services \u2013 not just the chairman — would have to submit certification that removing the military ban on homosexuality wouldn\u2019t harm unit cohesion and military order.<\/p>\n

Four states plus the District of Columbia currently issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples \u2013 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Maryland, New York and Rhode Island recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.<\/p>\n

Source CNS News<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pete Winn (CNSNews.com) \u2013 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[29,234,233,231,235,230,232,30],"class_list":["post-552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-military-chaplains","tag-chaplains","tag-defense-of-marriage-act","tag-doma","tag-homosexual","tag-navy","tag-same-sex-marriage","tag-sodomites","tag-u-s-military"],"yoast_head":"\nNavy Authorizes Chaplains to Perform Same-Sex \u2018Marriages\u2019 in Naval Chapels - Watchwoman on the Wall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2011\/05\/navy-authorizes-chaplains-to-perform-same-sex-\u2018marriages\u2019-in-naval-chapels.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navy Authorizes Chaplains to Perform Same-Sex \u2018Marriages\u2019 in Naval Chapels - 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