Gay Married Army Couple Barred from Attending Military Marriage Retreat

Fort Irwin, California, the Military Times reports:

Shakera Leigh Halford said her wife, a soldier at the post, approached a chaplain at Fort Irwin about participating in a “Strong Bonds” retreat at the base but was told the couple is “ineligible” because of their sexual orientation.

“I’m very sad and disappointed,” Halford said in a statement. “To know there are valuable resources available to soldiers and their families to help us through the challenges of military life, and then be told that we aren’t eligible because of our sexual orientation ... it hurts. It really hurts. We’re at a pretty secluded base and there aren’t many other resources out there for us, so what are we supposed to do?”

The retreat is one of the many services run by the Army’s Chaplain Corps. The Southern Baptist Convention, which provides the largest share of active-duty military chaplains, has barred members from taking part in weddings, counseling sessions and couples retreats for same-sex couples. Similar restrictions apply to Roman Catholic chaplains.

The military must somehow resolve the conflict between the chaplains who refuse to serve gay and lesbian couples and Defense Department policy or these cases will continue to crop up.

Oklahoma Drops National Guard Benefits For All Couples To Avoid Serving Same-Sex Couples

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) announced earlier this month that state-owned National Guard facilities will no longer allow any married couples to apply for spousal benefits, regardless of whether they are same-sex or opposite-sex. The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act means that servicemembers with same-sex spouses are now eligible for federal benefits. Fallin’s unusual tactic is designed to avoid having to recognize those couples, which she asserts would violate Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman:

FALLIN: Oklahoma law is clear. The state of Oklahoma does not recognize same-sex marriages, nor does it confer marriage benefits to same-sex couples. The decision reached today allows the National Guard to obey Oklahoma law without violating federal rules or policies. It protects the integrity of our state constitution and sends a message to the federal government that they cannot simply ignore our laws or the will of the people.

This decision directly contradicts an order from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordering states to provide same-sex couples with the federal benefits they deserve under the law. All married couples will now have to travel to one of the five federal facilities in Oklahoma to apply for benefits. Incidentally, the state’s facilities were built almost entirely with federal funds and 90 percent of the Oklahoma Military Department — which includes the National Guard — is funded by the federal government.

Fallin’s tactic mirrors other attempts to punish an entire group to avoid serving the gay community. When marriage equality came to the District of Columbia, Catholic Charities decided to stop offering partner benefits to all employees to avoid having to provide them to any employee’s same-sex spouse. In various states, Catholic Charities has also abandoned all adoption services to avoid having to provide them to same-sex couples.

Schools have also employed this strategy to try to block gay-straight alliances from forming. In 2011, for example, Flour Bluff Independent School District in Corpus Christi, Texas considered banning all extracurricular clubs to avoid allowing a GSA to form.

Oklahoma is not alone in defying Hagel’s orders. The Texas Military Force acknowledged this week that it will not allow same-sex couples to apply for a housing allowance at state-run National Guard facilities, having already turned away at least one couple. Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia have also refused to comply, but some states that previously had balked have begun complying, like West Virginia. A total of 29 states have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, but most are complying with the federal recognition for purposes of the National Guard.

Texas National Guard now openly-discriminating against gay troops

The Texas National Guard, in a major and growing snub to the Obama administration and the US Supreme Court, is refusing to provide federal married-housing benefits to gay National Guard members who are legally wed.

We had reported earlier on how a number of mostly-southern states, run by Republican governors, were refusing to abide by a Defense Department order that the spouses of all US service members, gay and straight, be treated equally in the US Armed Forces, following the US Supreme Court striking down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) this past June, 2013.

That provision of DOMA forbade the federal government from providing federal benefits associated with marriage to same-sex couples, even if those couples were legally married in one of the growing number of US states that recognize gay unions.

With DOMA struck down, the government had no choice but to provide the benefits.

But a number of Republican governors in mostly-southern states have since done all they can to continue discriminating against gay service members.

First, the GOP governors had the National Guard refuse to issue identification cards for the spouses of gay troops, forcing them to go sometimes hundreds of miles to federal facilities, even though straight spouses can simply get their IDs from the nearest National Guard base.

Now, in Texas, according to the American Military Partner Association, the National Guard is refusing to provide federal housing benefits to married gay service members, even if they got their spouse an ID from a federal facility.

What’s even more interesting is the fact that most National Guard spending is paid for by the federal government, so these are federal dollars being denied to these service members families, and that would seem a clear violation of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down DOMA.

In Mississippi, for example, the federal government pays 99% of the Mississippi National Guard’s budget. Here’s from my earlier reporting:

The Mississippi National Guard annual report for fiscal year 2011 shows that the state of Mississippi appropriated almost $7.8 million for the state National Guard.  In that same year, the federal government gave the Mississippi National Guard $679 million. In 2012, the figures were similar: $685 million from the feds, $7.2 million from the state of Mississippi.

“By refusing to treat same-gender military couples equally, the Texas Military Forces, under the leadership of Governor Rick Perry, is creating a hostile climate of discrimination and has sent a strong message that Department of Defense policies and direct orders by the Secretary of Defense will not be followed,” said Stephen Peters, president of the American Military Partner Association. ”The position the state of Texas has taken is a direct assault on not only military and family readiness, but the integrity and viability of the chain of command. It is also direct evidence of why gay and lesbian service members should be protected under the Department of Defense non-discrimination policy and equal opportunity program.”

Initially, there were nine or so problem states: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Indiana.

Indiana finally relented, and agreed to provide the IDs.

And South Carolina responded by telling the feds, in essence, that if they want blacks swimming in South Carolina pools, South Carolina will simply shut down the pools altogether, so no one can swim in them. South Carolina is now refusing to issue an ID to anyone, requiring all National Guard families, straight and gay, to go to federal facilities, which are not always nearby.  No word yet on whether South Carolina is going to balk at providing federal marriage benefits to gay couples.

These GOP governors, and state National Guards, are in the process of significantly eroding the power of the Pentagon and the commander in chief, in addition to quite likely thumbing their collective noses at the Supreme Court to boot.  It doesn’t get much more “Civil Rights Era” than this.

But just as bad, Rick Perry and the Republican party are now letting their official intolerance undermine the morale and cohesion, and overall readiness, of the US armed forces.  They are in a very real way undermining US national security in favor of their party’s hateful and spiteful dislike of minorities.

Overall, it was bad enough when these handful of states told Secretary Hagel to take a hike. But now, even when a “separate but equal” solution was found to the ID problem, the bigoted Republican states are back at it, poking the Pentagon yet again.

We look forward to Hagel, and President Obama – who tend to have a bigger stick – poking back shortly.

OKLAHOMA: Governor Might Sue To Block National Guard Benefits For Gays

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that he was ordering all National Guard units to comply with Pentagon policy regarding spousal benefits for gay soldiers. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin may go to court to stop him.

Alex Weintz, spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin, said she “is working with Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to evaluate the legal options available to the Oklahoma National Guard.” Weintz stopped short of saying Oklahoma will refuse to follow Hagel’s order, but made it clear Fallin would not go along with it willingly. “Gov. Fallin is calling on President Obama and Secretary Hagel to stop using the National Guard as a pawn in a larger social agenda,” said Weintz. “The president has made it clear he supports gay marriage. He has the legal authority to order federal agencies to recognize gay marriages. He does not have the legal authority to force state agencies to do so, or to unilaterally rewrite state laws or state constitutions.”

Following Hagel's edict, Indiana's Attorney General agreed to comply. Other states who have not yet done so: Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

Awesome Couple Weds!

It was a photo that was worth way more than a thousand words when U.S. Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan returned home from Afghanistan last year and jumped into the arms of his boyfriend Dalan Wells--and now the duo, whose photo went viral, have gotten married!!

The couple got married at St. John's Episcopal Church in Honeoye, New York.

 

House Panel Adds Measure to Defense Bill That Would Protect Anti-Gay Harassment, Discrimination

An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offered by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA, pictured) was accepted by the House Armed Services Committee last night. Read it here. The amendment expands "conscience protections" in the NDAA, offering a 'license to bully' based on religious beliefs.
According to Outserve-SLDN:

If enacted, the Fleming amendment would protect inappropriate, defamatory, and discriminatory speech and actions – a significant expansion of current protections for beliefs – and would leave commanders with no recourse against such prejudicial conduct when it occurs in their units.

The group says the bill would also "compromise religious liberties of service members, erode the ability of military commanders to protect good order and discipline, and undermine the successful implementation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal."
Raw Story adds:

“Basically, you can believe what you believe and not be punished for it, but if your actions based on those beliefs are counter to the Uniform Code of Military Justice or counter to what’s necessary, that can be held against you,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) explained last year, when the conscience protections were first added to the defense spending bill.

But Fleming’s amendment would require the Pentagon to accommodate religious “speech and actions” — not just beliefs.

Said Army veteran and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson, an ordained Baptist minister:

"Religious liberty is a core American value, and we support the accommodation of all beliefs. What we can never support is legislation that sanctions one belief at the expense of others and places unit cohesion, the safety of our troops, and their ability to accomplish the mission in jeopardy, and that’s exactly what this bill would do...The military already has in place policies that adequately protect a service member’s personal beliefs while also protecting unit cohesion and good order and discipline. This amendment is nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to sabotage the climate of inclusion and respect for all that our Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of Defense have called for in our military, and would create a license to bully, harass, and discriminate against service members based on religion, gender, sexual orientation, or any number of other characteristics."