The Department of Defense has announced that military chaplains are now allowed to officiate the same-sex marriages of service members in states where it’s legal. The ceremonies can also be performed on military bases.
The Advocate.com article linked above includes many more of the details, including the reactions from LGBT advocacy groups.
The Pentagon guidance comes on the same day as the retirement of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, whose personal support for ending “don’t ask, don’t tell” gave a crucial boost to the repeal movement. Appearing before a Senate committee hearing in February 2010, Mullen testified that he was troubled by a policy that “forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”
Appearing in his final news conference last week with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Mullen said of completed “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal, “Today is really about every man and woman who serves this country, every man and woman in uniform, regardless of how they define themselves. And tomorrow, they’ll all get up, they’ll all go to work, and they’ll all be able to do that work honestly. And their fellow citizens will be safe from harm. And that’s all that really matters.”
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