Military Chaplains: Protect Anti-Gay Speech

Military chaplains are concerned troops could be punished for expressing objections to homosexuality once the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is lifted. Leaders of 21 religious groups that provide chaplains to the US military sent a letter yesterday to the chiefs of chaplains of the Navy, Army, and Air Force. They want Congress or the Pentagon to guarantee troops won't be punished if they openly discuss their objections to homosexuality.

"Service members should know that chaplains' ministry and their own rights of conscience remain protected everywhere military necessity has placed them," the letter states. Said an advocate of repealing DADT: "This is yet another example of people with traditional and, quite frankly, anti-gay views demanding protection for something that doesn't need protection." (More Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal stories.)