Navy Chaplains May Perform Same-Sex Marriages

Navy Times reported yesterday that Navy Chief of Chaplains Rear Adm. Mark Tidd has issued a memo allowing Navy chaplains to officiate at same-sex marriage and civil union ceremonies. The memo was issued as part of the updated training guidance to implement the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."  The memo reads in part:

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 a state that permits same-sex marriage or union; and if that chaplain is, according to the applicable state and local laws, otherwise fully certified to officiate that state’s marriages.... [I]f the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then base facilities may normally be used to celebrate the marriage. This is true for purely religious services (e.g., a chaplain blessing a union) or a traditional wedding (e.g., a chaplain both blessing and conducting the ceremony).

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Todd Aikin says that the memo violates the Defense of Marriage Act.