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May 19, 2011
Rear Adm. Mark Tidd – Photo: Courtesy
The Navy on May 11 reversed course on a decision to allow chaplains to perform same-sex unions in states that recognize such relationships.
Rear Adm. Mark Tidd, in a one-sentence memo, stated that his decision to allow Navy chaplains to officiate at same-sex unions was “suspended until further notice pending additional legal and policy review and interdepartmental coordination.”
Tidd’s announcement followed complaints from GOP lawmakers who complained that allowing chaplains to perform same-sex union ceremonies violated the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.
Responding to the Navy’s retreat, Alexander Nicholson of Servicemembers United said: “At a time when the economy still needs attention, Osama Bin Laden was just killed and revolution and conflicts continue to rage across a fragile Middle East, having policy makers spend valuable and limited time on whether a few gay couples may or may not use a Navy facility for a private ceremony at some point in the future is just plain silly.”
