November 03, 2011 07:43 PM UTC

Coffman, Lamborn Fight To Keep Gay Weddings Off Military Bases

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• by: Colorado Pols

Top priority, says the American Independent’s Andy Birkey:

Colorado Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn and Mike Coffman joined Rep. Michele Bachmann and 83 other members of the House as signers of a letter to the U.S. Senate urging that body to pass an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit gay members of America’s Armed Forces from using military facilities for marriage ceremonies.

The Department of Defense, in the wake of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, has indicated that it will allow chaplains and same-sex couples to use facilities on a “sexual orientation-neutral basis,” something Republican members of the U.S. House oppose…

The House members complain that guidance by the Department of Defense General Counsel would make resources available to all members of the military. The general counsel guidance said that the “use of DoD real property and facilities for private functions, including religious and other ceremonies, should be made on a sexual orientation neutral basis.”

“This clear and deliberate violation of established U.S. law sets a dangerous precedent,” the letter states. “[The Defense of Marriage Act] makes it clear that for purposes of the federal government, marriage is defined as between one man and one woman…”

Par for the course for Rep. Doug Lamborn, but once again it’s noteworthy that Rep. Mike Coffman is taking point on a divisive social issue without knowing what his congressional district is going to look like next year. The present CD-6 who elected Tom Tancredo repeatedly won’t mind, but if that isn’t who he gets as constituents…well, he might be digging a bit of a hole.

Correction, he might be digging an existing hole even deeper.