Summary
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to enforce strict grooming rules in the military, aiming for uniformity. This decision could affect soldiers with religious beliefs that require beards or those with skin conditions worsened by shaving. There is concern this could force soldiers to choose between their service and their beliefs or health needs.
Key Facts
- Pete Hegseth wants stricter grooming rules in the military, focusing on shaving policies.
- Some religious groups, like Sikhs, Muslims, and Orthodox Jews, have traditions that require men to have beards.
- Medical conditions like pseudofolliculitis barbae, which affects many Black men, are worsened by shaving.
- The new rules might force soldiers to choose between their religious beliefs and serving in the military.
- Sikh service members must keep their beards as part of their faith.
- The new memo states religious accommodations will revert to older, stricter standards and limited approvals will be allowed.
- Affected troops could find themselves in non-deployable roles.
- NAACP President Derrick Johnson criticized the rules as an attack on Black identity.
