New anti-gay UCMJ clauses subvert their own intent
Representative Todd Akin of recent "Rape can't make you pregnant" infamy has been also mentioned in the news for what has been characterized as as protecting chaplains who refuse to conduct same-sex ceremonies.
Section 536 of the NDAA does exactly that, and its neither unusual nor inappropriate by itself.
Unfortunately none of the media coverage included reading on to Section 537. Section 537 prohibits anyone else, chaplain or not, from performing any solemnization or ceremony for same sex couples on any land controlled by the DoD (whether owned, rented, or whatever). This is the actual nasty part of the bill. It aims not to protect the chaplain who doesn't want to conduct a same-sex ceremony but to prevent others who do not share that belief from doing so.
This might seem like just one more clause to add to the list of things that need to be repealed when the anti-gay power block has finally been thrown out of power, but there is a twist. Section 536 provides a loophole to section 537. A chaplain who believed that same-sex marriage *should* be allowed is now exempted from any punishment for performing the ceremony consistent with his sincerely held religious beliefs.
Section 536 of the NDAA does exactly that, and its neither unusual nor inappropriate by itself.
Unfortunately none of the media coverage included reading on to Section 537. Section 537 prohibits anyone else, chaplain or not, from performing any solemnization or ceremony for same sex couples on any land controlled by the DoD (whether owned, rented, or whatever). This is the actual nasty part of the bill. It aims not to protect the chaplain who doesn't want to conduct a same-sex ceremony but to prevent others who do not share that belief from doing so.
This might seem like just one more clause to add to the list of things that need to be repealed when the anti-gay power block has finally been thrown out of power, but there is a twist. Section 536 provides a loophole to section 537. A chaplain who believed that same-sex marriage *should* be allowed is now exempted from any punishment for performing the ceremony consistent with his sincerely held religious beliefs.