Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told an openly gay chaplain that homosexuality is a choice during an online town hall event that took place on Monday.
“Understand that the battles that you face, the challenges that you face every day and trying to make the world a better place, are not easy. They’re defined by your choice to be homosexual, and that we’ve got to work together and have hope and that we will, you know, continue to make progress in time,” Del Toro said in the video.
The video was posted by Lt. j.g. Cory Newell, a gay non-denominational pastor currently in the chaplain pipeline.
A Navy official who requested anonymity to speak frankly about the encounter told Navy Times that Del Toro meant to say that a person revealing their sexuality and coming out is a choice.
Del Toro echoed that sentiment in a statement to Navy Times in the late afternoon Tuesday.
“I am and always have been an unequivocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community,” he said. “My comments regarding choice were referring specifically to an individual’s deeply personal decision to share their sexual orientation...As a father and Secretary, my actions, words, and policies have been consistent in treating everyone with dignity and respect.”
Del Toro’s video answer came from a question Newell asked about making the Navy and the chaplain corps less homophobic.
The Navy secretary thanked Newell for his courage in asking the question and noted that “homophobia is still very much present in many, many circles.”
Del Toro added that progress has been made when it comes to LGBTQ+ civil rights, particularly the military’s past “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that prevented LGBTQ+ troops from serving openly.
“Stop and think about where we have been compared to where we are today,” he said. “Take hope and inspiration from that.”
But instead, Newell, 39, told Navy Times Tuesday that Del Toro’s comments about homosexuality being a choice “broke my heart.”
Not everyone attending Monday’s townhall agreed with Newell’s take.
Lt. j.g. Jonathan R. Smith, an openly gay man also in chaplain training, contacted Navy Times to side with the SECNAV.
“The Secretary was completely gracious and affirming in response to Mr. Newell’s unnecessarily provocative and hostile question,” Smith said in an email, adding that he believed Del Toro “fumbled a bit and misspoke.”
“To represent that flub as indicative of what the Secretary was trying to say really misses the mark,” he added. “The Chaplain Corps is the furthest thing from homophobic.”
The footage was provided to Navy Times by the non-profit Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Its founder and president, Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, tells Navy Times that more than a dozen religious professionals have come forward to lodge complaints about the SECNAV’s comments with his nonprofit advocacy organization as of Tuesday afternoon.
Newell said Del Toro’s comments came at a chaplain town hall that took place Monday afternoon. He estimated that between 400 and 600 chaplains from across the fleet attended the event.
Del Toro’s comments come as Navy and military leadership in general seek to convey a message of inclusiveness to today’s ranks.
“I was devastated,” said Newell, who is married.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
