With less than 10 days to go before the
first anniversary of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” Republican Senators
Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Roger Wicker of Mississippi on Tuesday
introduced a bill which would bar gay and lesbian couples from
marrying on a military base and protect military chaplains who object
to such unions from being “forced” to perform a ceremony.
Inhofe and Wicker said the bill, titled
the Military Religious Freedom Act, “explicitly outlines how
the Defense of Marriage Act should be applied to the Department of
Defense.”
“President Obama and his
administration are dismissing their responsibility to uphold the law
of the land by unilaterally deeming DOMA unworthy of enforcement,”
said Inhofe. “At the same time, since the repeal of the military's
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, they have begun to pressure military
chaplains to fall in line with their liberal same-sex marriage
agenda. This bill protects military chaplains from being forced to
go against their conscience and religious beliefs in regard to this
issue. This is something the chaplains that serve this country need
and deserve.”
With repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't
Tell,” the Pentagon issued guidance which stated that chaplains may
officiate over the marriage and civil union ceremonies of gay couples
in states where it's legal, including those taking place on base
chapels. No chaplain is required to perform the ceremony.
In June, the Pentagon held its
first-ever event honoring gay service members. Later that same
month, a
gay service member in the Air Force and his partner entered a civil
union at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Wrightstown, New
Jersey.