Same-Sex Weddings a Stark Military Reality
Cadet Chapel, the landmark Gothic church that is a center for spiritual life at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, hosted its first same-sex wedding Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
The AP continues:
“Penelope Gnesin and Brenda Sue Fulton, a West Point graduate, exchanged vows in the regal church in an afternoon ceremony, attended by about 250 guests and conducted by a senior Army chaplain.
“The two have been together for 17 years. They had a civil commitment ceremony that didn’t carry any legal force in 1999 and had long hoped to formally tie the knot. The way was cleared last year, when New York legalized same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama lifted the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the military.
“The brides both live in New Jersey and would have preferred to have the wedding there, but the state doesn’t allow gay marriage …
“The couple added other military trappings to their wedding, including a tradition called the saber arch, where officers or cadets hold their swords aloft over the newlyweds as they emerge from the church.”
What does this same-sex wedding ceremony at the center for spiritual life at the U.S. Military Academy mean for the Armed Forces? What does it mean for the nation? Should openly gay people be allowed to serve in the military or was Obama’s move to lift President Clinton’s Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy a huge mistake? Sound off.
