First gay general appointed. Go Army!

From the LA Times

During a promotion ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, a proud wife placed a star insignia on her spouse's uniformed shoulder — the official mark of an Army brigadier general. 

With that simple gesture, Brig. Gen. Tammy Smith became the country's first openly gay general. 

....On Friday, more than 70 people clustered inside an auditorium at Arlington's Women in Military Service for America Memorial. 

Smith, then a colonel, strode in with her commanding officer at the stroke of 4 p.m. The audience sang the national anthem and a young boy led the Pledge of Allegiance.
The announcer presented Smith’s father. Then came an introduction: “Col. Smith's partner, Miss Tracey Hepner.” 

The audience burst into applause.
....
Hepner and Smith could not be reached for comment. In an interview with Stars and Stripes, Smith said she understood the social significance of her promotion, even though she viewed that as secondary. 

“All of those facts are irrelevant,” Smith was quoted as saying. “I don’t think I need to be focused on that. What is relevant is upholding Army values and the responsibility this carries.”

Why it matters: military families

Charlie Morgan is a married woman in active military service.  She has breast cancer.

Even with repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the pair face all sorts of limitations not imposed on opposite-sex military couples. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, for example, Karen Morgan is denied health coverage worth well in excess of $10,000 a year. She also cannot get a base pass that would let her escort their 4 1/2-year-old daughter to medical appointments on base or shop at the commissary. 

These serial injustices are especially concerning now that Charlie Morgan’s cancer has returned. She worries about how her family will manage if she dies, since the law denies same-sex spouses death and survivor benefits. In the fall, she became a named plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act’s denial of equal protection. 

“I have a question I’d like to ask John Boehner,” Charlie Morgan said, taking note of the House speaker’s decision to spend taxpayer money for lawyers to defend the act. “I’ve proved I’m willing to put my life on the line for my country. When will he allow the military to protect my family?

We're waiting, Speaker Boehner, and candidate Santorum.  Just how does  hurting Charlie's family "protect" marriage?

Pentagon to allow chaplains to perform marriages

Segregation in this country started to die when the military was integrated. Gotta hand it to the Pentagon, they can make things happen when they have to. I think the repeal of DADT will accelerate the repeal of DOMA. And now, the pentagon will allow military chaplains who choose to do so to marry same sex couples, in accordance with local laws.

From Stars and Stripes:

Starting immediately, chaplains can perform same-sex marriage and union ceremonies on U.S. military installations in locations where it doesn’t violate state or local laws, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The policy reversal follows on the heels of the repeal of the “don’t ask-don’t tell” law, Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote in a memo to the military department secretaries and service chiefs.

“A military chaplain may participate in or officiate any private ceremony, whether on or off a military installation, provided that the ceremony is not prohibited by applicable state and local law,” he wrote…..

Although it’s a core duty of military chaplains is to provide religious support — and in certain cases perform religious services — for troops with different beliefs from their own, chaplains won’t have to perform gay marriages if they don’t want to, Stanley wrote.

“[A] chaplain is not required to participate in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion or personal beliefs,” he wrote.

Fundy heads are exploding, predictably.

Soldier's parents work for equality (video Sunday)

More on the story here.

Married by the Navy? Not so fast.

The Navy is moving ahead on DADT repeal and has determined that Navy Chaplains may perform same-sex marriages for servicemembers in states in which same sex marriage is legal, if they choose to do so.

Naturally, this has outraged some members of Congress who are complaining.

The issue of military chaplains is one that the anti-equality forces have raised. The military, moving with due speed, has made it explicit that military chaplains have wide latitude and are not required to preach or do anything that conflicts with their religious views. However, as the Forum on Military Chaplaincy points out, there are many chaplains who work to support LGBT people in the service. Their religious freedom is indeed impinged by laws that prevent them from acting their beliefs. As they say,

It is about time there is a strong voice for people of faith who can no longer stand by and see religion used as a weapon against patriotic Americans who want to serve their country.

Here is the way to look at it:

Anti-gay chaplains: if anyone anywhere performs same sex blessings, MY religious freedom is impinged

Pro-equality chaplains: if I can't perform marriages, MY religious freedom is impinged.

As the Navy makes explicit,

"If the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then base facilities may normally be used to celebrate the marriage," the memo read.

"There's been no change in policy, the only change that occurred was in training," Navy spokeswoman Lieutenant Alana Garas said in a telephone interview.

"It (the memo) emphasizes repeatedly that chaplains will not be required to officiate same-sex weddings if it's contrary to the tenets of their faith," Garas added.

Religious freedom means EVERYONE has freedom. It does not mean that YOU have freedom to tell ME what to believe.Bishop Gene Robinson, famously gay Bishop of the Episcopal Church lays it out here.

Why is this so difficult to grasp?

Unfortunately, the Navy has backed down.

Under pressure from more than five dozen House lawmakers, the Navy late Tuesday abruptly reversed its decision that would have allowed chaplains to perform same-sex unions if the Pentagon decides to recognize openly gay military service later this year.

In a one-sentence memo obtained by The Associated Press, Rear Adm. Mark Tidd, chief of Navy chaplains, said his earlier decision has been "suspended until further notice pending additional legal and policy review and interdepartmental coordination."

The Navy said its lawyers wanted to do a more thorough review of the legal decision that allowed Navy chaplains to receive training to perform civil unions on military bases, but only in states where same-sex unions are legal.

Unbelievably, the Congressional neanderthals seem to think DOMA makes it illegal for gay servicemembers to marry.

Kudos, however, to the forward thinkers in the USN who tried to enter the modern age. Eventually, it will happen.

Eventually.