WASHINGTON (AP) — 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, 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 legal decision would have allowed Navy chaplains to receive training to perform civil unions on military bases, but only in states where gay marriage is legal.
House members wrote to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to object, saying the service was violating the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which the Obama administration has said it would no longer defend.
The Navy’s decision triggered an uproar, since the Army and Air Force had not made similar decisions, and there was no overall Defense Department guidance issued on the same-sex union issue.
