Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Military gay wedding chapels

The repeal of the law until December banning gays to serve openly in the military may be, soon, an unintended consequence: gay weddings in the chapel of the Navy. Preparing to upgrade their internal rules, and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in their ranks, the Navy has moved its troops from the chapels in which they officiate marriages usually be home soon bogas gay in those states that are legal, long as the faith of the pastor that officiated the permits.

According to an internal memo of April 13th Corps Chief of Navy Chaplains, Rear Admiral Mark Tidd: "According to the precepts of their religious affiliation, a chaplain will officiate civil marriages between same sex, if done in a state that allows marriages between same sex, and if the chaplain, in accordance with applicable local and state, is certified to officiate such marriages.

" The document was leaked this week in the online journal The Navy Times. There are several religious practices that accept and administer gay marriage, as the Episcopal Church of North America, the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Moreover, such marriages can officiate in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the federal capital, where they are legal in the civil courts.

The Navy has a staff of 1,100 chaplains on active and reserve soldiers ordained as pastors in different faiths. Their badges identify them as Buddhists, Jews, Christians or Muslims. Usually go to the war front aboard Navy ships and also offer spiritual guidance and religious services to the troops of the Coast Guard and Marines.

The announcement of the Navy has already drawn opposition from many congressional conservatives. The President of the Naval Forces Subcommittee of the House of Representatives, Republican Todd Akin, the Navy sent a letter signed by 62 other congressmen, which requires the Pentagon to meet a 1996 law, known as the Defense Marriage invalidates gay marriages at the federal level.

"The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by Congress and ratified by President Clinton in 1996. The law says the federal government defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The new Navy policy clearly violates that law. And even our president does not like that law, it's amazing that the Navy issued new rules that violence, "says Akin.

The memorandum of the Navy Admiral Tidd, however, ensures that the approval of such ceremonies are not meant to give validity to the federal level. "Regarding the use of the facilities of the bases for same-sex marriage, the legal office has concluded that, overall, the use of bases to be neutral in terms of sexual orientation," he said.

"This is a change from previous guidelines that prohibited marriages between same sex in federal facilities." Barack Obama was the president who asked the Senate to repeal the law that prevented gays serving openly in the military, something he did in December. Furthermore, 23 February, said the Attorney General [Justice Minister] Eric Holder to let state attorneys to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

It was not the first time in the White House indicated that it considered unconstitutional federal ban on same-sex unions and the benefits they offer, such as hospital visitation rights, family reunification or inheritance rights.

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