The U.S. Navy has joined other branches of the military in allowing service personnel who are Sikhs to wear turbans with their uniforms.

Previously, the Navy had ruled that Jewish and Muslim members could wear unobtrusive head coverings that would be contained under regulation military hats. Under the new rules, turbans will be allowed even though they are too large to wear under standard-issue military headgear.

The Sikh Coalition, which lobbied for the change, welcomed the new rule.

 “We are appreciative that the U.S. Navy has taken a step forward in securing accommodations for observant Sikh Americans who wish to serve with their religious articles of faith,” Giselle Klapper, the Sikh Coalition’s staff attorney, said in a March 19 press release.

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


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