By Deborah Keeling
The U.S. Navy has made a complete about turn on its earlier guidance that could have allowed chaplains to perform same-sex unions on military bases. The chief of Navy chaplains, Rear Admiral Mark Tidd, sent a one line memo saying his April 13 memo had been 'suspended until further notice pending additional legal and policy review and interdepartmental coordination.'

On April 13, Chief of Chaplains Rear Adm. Mark Tidd issued a memo giving permission to the Navy's chaplains to conduct marriage and civil union ceremonies for homosexual couples. Tidd's wrote in his memo that chaplains may participate in such ceremonies in states where same-sex unions are allowed. He also said naval base facilities "may normally be used to celebrate the marriage" if the base is in a state that has legalized "same-sex marriage."

Some members of the U.S. House of Representatives complained to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus after Tidd's memo was revealed. Led by Rep. Todd Akin, R.-Mo., the representatives said they "find it difficult to understand how the military is somehow exempt from abiding by" the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. The Act defines marriage in federal law as being between a man and a woman and gives power to the state to refuse to recognize another state's "gay marriages." "Offering up federal facilities and federal employees for same-sex marriages violates DOMA, which is still the law of the land and binds our military, including chaplains," the 63 House members told Mabus in a May 6 letter.

"It is not the place of any citizen of this country to pick and choose which laws they are going to obey," the representatives said. "We expect citizens sworn to defend those laws to set the example in their application." Akin responded saying, "While a state may legalize same-sex marriage, federal property and federal employees, like Navy chaplains, should not be used to perform marriages that are not recognized by federal law."