by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – A previously undisclosed 2023 Pentagon memo warned that Biden administration policies involving gender identity, preferred pronouns and access to sex-specific facilities were raising “significant religious liberty concerns” among members of the U.S. military, according to a report published Monday.
The Washington Times reported that some personnel within the military chaplain corps raised concerns that service members with traditional religious beliefs could face conflicts between their faith and Defense Department policies regarding gender identity.
The concerns reportedly centered on requirements or expectations involving preferred pronouns, restroom access and other accommodations for transgender personnel. For Christians and other service members whose religious convictions hold that biological sex is immutable, such policies raised questions over whether they could follow their beliefs without facing professional consequences.
The issue was particularly significant in the military, where rank and command structures can make forms of address more than a matter of personal preference. Religious-liberty advocates have argued that compelling service members to use pronouns contrary to their sincerely held beliefs could implicate protections under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Defense Department policy itself has long recognized protections for religious conscience. A Pentagon report covering fiscal 2023 stated that the Armed Forces should accommodate expressions arising from a service member’s “sincerely held conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs” unless doing so would adversely affect military readiness, unit cohesion, or good order and discipline.
The revelations come as the Trump administration moves in the opposite direction. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week announced the creation of a new Office of Religious Affairs, reporting directly to him and designed to strengthen religious support and elevate the role of military chaplains. The Pentagon said the new office will not compel religious participation or favor one faith over another.
Hegseth said chaplains had been “buried echelons deep” within the Pentagon bureaucracy and pledged to give religious affairs a stronger voice within military leadership.
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