Rep. Wants Gay Marriages on Navy Bases

Rep. Chris Murphy says military chaplains should be allowed to officiate same-sex marriages in Connecticut.

In an April 13 memo on "don't ask, don't tell" repeal training, Rear Adm. Mark L. Tidd, chief of Navy Chaplains, said wedding ceremonies for gay and lesbian service members would be sanctioned at naval facilities. That decision was later suspended, Murphy said, after the Navy received a letter of objection from a group of House Republicans.

On Wednesday the congressman sent a letter to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus requesting a reinstatement of the decision to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies at naval facilities.

"Since 2008, same-sex couples in Connecticut have had the legal right to marry," wrote Murphy. "I find it disgraceful that citizens of our state serving in the armed forces aren't afforded that same basic right."

Murphy, a longtime supporter of DADT repeal efforts, says he intends to run for Senate in 2012.

"Citizens of my state, working together with a willing Navy chaplain, should not have to lose a right they have in our state because of interference from the Navy," he said.

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