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Some good news for @BECKETlaw’s client Leo Katsareas! An Australian by birth and Muslim by faith, Leo is a Sailor in the @USNavy and has recently received an accommodation to serve with a beard as required by his faith. https://www.becketlaw.org/case/katsareas-v-united-states-navy/
Leo immigrated to the U.S. 8 years ago because of his love for America’s founding principles. He then worked with the government fighting terrorism and has served in the Navy since 2016, currently aboard the USS George Washington.
Until now, Leo’s military service has come at a cost: sacrificing his religious beliefs. Although the Army and Air Force have policies that broadly accommodate religious beards, the Navy continues to drag its feet. WHY?
Our military has a rich tradition of religious diversity. George Washington insisted that soldiers have access to chaplains of their own faith. Since then, service members of all religious stripes have generally been welcome to serve both God and country.
But in the 1980s things took a turn for worse. New dress and grooming regs intended to tighten discipline ignored religious concerns. Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, and others with religious dress standards were basically told “give them up or get out.”
The military made beard exceptions for special forces, several hundred thousand service members with medical conditions, and a few religious chaplains. But for nearly 35 years, many observant Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews were excluded from military service because of their faith.
In 2016, Becket, @sikh_coalition, and @amansidhu_dc sued @USArmy and secured a policy change finally allowing religious minorities to serve again without having to abandon their articles of faith. @USAirForce recently followed.
. @USNavy—your policy of no religious beards during sea duty continues to exclude religious minorities in violation of federal law.
After Becket stepped in, @USNavy has finally granted Leo—after 5 years of requests—a *temporary* accommodation for the full beard required by his faith. His accommodation states that it could change if anything about his duty changes.
