Military chaplains doing same-sex ‘marriages’ is illegal protests congressional committee chair
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2011 – A congressional Armed Services Subcommittee chair has said that September memos by the Pentagon announcing that military chaplains are permitted to officiate in homosexual “marriages” are instructing the military “to do things which are in fact illegal to do.” Republican Representative Todd Akin , of Missouri, said that the memos appear to violate a May 2011 amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act , which instructs that the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) applies to federal employees and federal property. Rep. Todd Akin “If the Department of Defense decides that they are going to have government-paid chaplains on government property performing homosexual marriages, they’re in direct violation of DOMA,” Akin told CNSNews.com . “When you see essentially laws being created or ignored by the executive branch, that says we are bordering on lawlessness.” The Pentagon announced September 30 that military chaplains can officiate at hom