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Military lawyers are reviewing whether to permit same-sex marriages on US Navy bases – and allowing chaplains to officiate – once a ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces is lifted, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday. The review came after Rear Admiral M.L. Tidd, the chief Navy chaplain, abruptly suspended a memorandum he issued last month that would have eventually opened the door to same sex weddings or civil unions on Navy bases. The memo prompted a letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus from 63 Republican congressmen who questioned whether it would violate a 1996 federal law – the Defense of Marriage Act that defines "marriage" as a legal union between one man and one woman. "Offering up federal facilities and federal employees for same-sex marriages violates DOMA, which is still the law of the land and binds our military," the letter said. Col. David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said news coverage of Tidd's memo and the subsequent letter from Republican lawmakers had prompted a discussion between Defense Department and Navy attorneys that led to a decision to review the issue. It was unclear how the Navy review would affect the Army and other branches of the US armed services. AFP |
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