- Oct 29, 2003
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http://www.military.com/news/article/bill-tries-to-prevent-gay-marriages-on-bases.html
Yet another socially conservative Republican looking stupid, I see. What part of the Pentagon's comments on this matter doesn't he understand?
A congressional lawmaker opposed to homosexuals serving openly in the military is taking another stab at preventing gay couples from marrying on military bases and ensuring chaplains who oppose homosexuality do not suffer for their views.
Kansas Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp is sponsoring a bill that stipulates the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" cannot be used to force chaplains to do anything against their beliefs, he said in an announcement Friday, including marrying gay partners.
"It will also protect the freedom of those in the military to express vocally the tenets of their faiths. And it will make certain that our military facilities are not used in contravention to the federal Defense of Marriage Act," he said. "Military installations exist to carry out the national defense of our nation, not to facilitate a narrow social agenda."
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which fought against the ban on gays serving openly for years, slammed Huelskamp's bill as "another round of resistance tactics that have already been rejected by Congress and the American people."
"There is no need for the so-called 'protections' in this bill or the proposed regulations," Sarvis said. "No chaplain is being required or pressured to marry anyone, straight or gay, today. Period."
Sarvis called the ban on using military facilities and chaplains at ceremonies for gay and lesbian servicemembers "nothing more than plain, old-fashion discrimination."
The Pentagon previously said that military chaplains may perform same-sex weddings in base chapels, though no chaplain is required to perform the ceremony if it violates his or her religious beliefs.
A bill similar to Huelskamp's was filed last year in the House but was yanked before final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act in December. That legislation, filed by Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin, had the backing of more than 80 members.
In remarks on the House floor last year, Huelskamp expressed concern that repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would have consequences for military chaplains. He claimed that pre-repeal training that servicemembers were going through included a warning that "failure to embrace alternative lifestyles could result in penalties" for servicemembers.
"What will happen to chaplains who decline to officiate in same-sex ceremonies?" he asked, then suggested they'd be harmed professionally for not doing so.
The Pentagon, however, has said on numerous occasions that lifting the ban on gays serving openly does not require chaplains to engage in any activity prohibited by their religious beliefs.
Yet another socially conservative Republican looking stupid, I see. What part of the Pentagon's comments on this matter doesn't he understand?