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WASHINGTON | Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:57pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Military chaplains will be allowed to officiate at same-sex weddings under new guidelines following repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays serving openly in the military, the Pentagon said on Friday.
A chaplain may participate in or officiate at any private ceremony on or off a military installation as long as the ceremony is not barred by state and local laws, the Defense Department said in a statement.
Chaplains do not have to officiate at ceremonies that go against their religious tenets, it said.
The repeal of the Defense Department policy that barred homosexuals from serving openly in the military took effect on September 20. More than 14,000 U.S. service members were thrown out under the rule, which dated from 1993.
The new guidelines approved by General Counsel Jeh Johnson and Clifford Stanley, the undersecretary for personnel and readiness, said that decisions on use of military property should be made on a "sexual-orientation neutral" basis, the statement said.
Six states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. Thirty-nine states specifically ban it.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Greg McCune)
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