Gays Can Now Get Married On Military Bases, If They Meet These 2 Conditions
When word got out last May that Navy chaplains were officiating gay weddings on military bases, the practice got shut down extra quick. But today the Pentagon says it’s A-OK just as long as it happens in a state where marriage equality is legal and doesn’t conflict with a chaplain’s personal or religious beliefs. That means you can finally have that military-themed wedding you’ve always dreamed about! Tell your guests you’re registered at the local army surplus store.
Image via jepoycamboy
I’ll keep my eyes piqued on “the Chaplins”, as moderates may be the new insistence by gays who get blocked by fundie-mental “case”.
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Question:
The DOD says Chaplains can perform marriages for gays in states where it’s legal for gays to marry.
But . . . isn’t a military base property of the federal government where local and state laws don’t apply?
I recall that my civilian driver license didn’t entitle me to drive a military vehicle, and my military drivers license didn’t entitle me to drive my VW on Texas roads. And if an airman killed another airman on base (I was stationed at Sheppard AFB), then it was strictly a concern for federal jurisdiction, not the state.
So it seems to me that if 2 military folks want a gay marriage, then if it’s performed on base, then it wouldn’t be subject to any state laws at all.
What am I missing here?
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The right-wing will go bonkers, but seriously, how can the government tell a clergyperson NOT to perform a private, religious ceremony his/her faith allows?
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So if the Pentagon, a federal agency is giving the go ahead to military marriages on base in those state where it’s legal for us to marry, then maybe this will begin to erode DOMA’s legality.
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@Robert in NYC: Sadly no. The government isn’t giving the marriages any legal standing, they’re just allowing their space to be rented out for a night.
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@Dallas David: Just like if you are caught smoking pot in California, it legally doesn’t mean much but if you’re caught smoking in Yosemite Park (or any other federal park) it’s a FEDERAL offense.
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You can now have a wedding on a military base that the military will pretend never happened.
Oh goodie.
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“Isn’t a military base property of the federal government where local and state laws don’t apply?”
Well, yes and the federal government does not recognize gay marriages, only specific states. So if we were to stick with federal law then there wouldn’t be any gay marriages on military bases. The government is going back to state law on this issue.
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@Dallas David: Yes and no. Even a “straight marriage” performed on a military base has to to legal in that state because that state is the one issuing the marriage license. So if two second cousins, for example, wanted to marry on a military base, that would only be acceptable in states where that marriage was legal.
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@Dallas David: The law that federal courts apply, when it has to do with the realm of state powers (marriage) is that of the state where they sit. So it makes sense that the military bases do the same because their civil cases are dealt with by local federal court magistrates.
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This article says — incorrectly — that chaplains can officiate over same-sex weddings only in states where “marriage equality is legal.”
That’s untrue. Here is what the Department of Defense memorandum declares:
• Military chaplains
• may perform private, religious ceremonies
• including same-sex weddings
• anywhere in the world
• on or off military bases
• so long as such ceremonies are not locally outlawed.
Private, same-sex wedding ceremonies performed by military chaplains are not limited to only the United States, and are not limited to only the 7 states where same-sex marriage is legal. They may be performed in any of the 50 states, and in any nation, so long as such religious services aren’t outlawed there.
It is good news that gay/lesbian weddings are private, religious ceremonies, because that means those weddings cannot be blocked, halted, made illegal, or forbidden in state or federal constitutions. On the other hand, civil marriage remains a state-by-state decision, and the 1,138 government benefits that go with civil marriage remain a federal decision.
So what we now have is ceremonies that fit nicely into family scrapbooks, but legal status that still eludes us all. Even people who live in states that grant full same-sex marriages are still forbidden from even applying for any of the 1,138 federal benefit programs to which all other couples have automatic access.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison showing how each presidential candidate would deal with this violation of our constitutional rights: http://www.marriageequality.org/Election2012
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@Ned_Flaherty: Go Fred Karger, at the top of the list! Too bad the R next to his name makes me wonder how he will be for LGBT people in poverty, but I’m not sure so I’ll have to research!
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Karger made his money from the tobacco industry. because that’s ethical and didn’t come at the cost of human lives.
:D
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Sounds good to me.