Senator: Let Chaplains Say No to Same-Sex Weddings

December, 17, 2011 -- WASHINGTON -- A proposal by Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker that would let military chaplains refuse to perform same-sex weddings is expected to come up for a vote this week in the House and Senate.

"Chaplains should not be forced to violate their beliefs in order to serve their country," said Wicker, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

Wicker's proposal would allow military chaplains to refuse to perform same-sex weddings a marriage "as a matter of conscience or moral principle.''

His amendment is part of the final compromise that House and Senate lawmakers negotiated on the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, is a co-sponsor.

Lawmakers could vote on the authorization bill as early as Wednesday.

Zeke Stokes, a spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay and lesbian advocacy group, said the amendment wouldn't change much because chaplains already can refuse to marry same-sex couples.

"They have always been able to decide who they want to marry and they will continue to do that,'' Stokes said.

He said Wicker's amendment is less restrictive than a House version that would have prohibited chaplains from performing same-sex marriages even in states that allow it. It also would have restricted the use of military facilities for those marriages.

That version didn't survive House-Senate negotiations over the defense authorization bill.

"The language in the Senate is more balanced,'' Stokes said.

In September, the military lifted its 18-year-old "don't ask, don't tell'' policy that allowed gays to serve in the military as long as they weren't open about their sexual orientation.

"This is an important step to protect military chaplains as the Department of Defense implements policy changes," Wicker said.

As more chaplains face the possibility of being asked to perform same-sex marriages, they deserve legal protections if their faith forbids it, said Army Col. Douglas McCullough , a retired Presbyterian Church in America chaplain.

"If the law is put in place, they will be protected from having to perform something that their denomination doesn't want them to do,'' said McCullough, who lives in Clinton.

"It places chaplains in a particular bind,'' he said.

McCullough said some commanders have gotten upset in the past when chaplains have cited their faith as a reason not to perform a particular service because doing so would conflict with their faith.

"The issue of same-sex marriage is a very small part of it,'' he said. "It's not that chaplains are refusing to do chaplain work.''

Wicker attached his amendment to the defense authorization bill partly because it's a must-pass bill, said Rick Curtsinger, a spokesman for Wicker.

"It's something he's been watching carefully since the repeal of don't-ask-don't-tell," Curtsinger said.