Rep. Emilia Sykes decries cancellation of Arlington cemetery ceremony to honor female veterans
WASHINGTON — Standing at a lectern beside a large wreath, U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes on Wednesday led members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus in a Capitol Hill news conference to honor women veterans and fallen female service members — a substitute for a ceremony the group said the Trump administration effectively shut down.
For 28 years, she said the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus has held an annual wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to recognize women who served in the military and those who gave their lives in service.
But this year was different.
Several military branches told organizers they could not participate due to a new Pentagon policy from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that blocks the military from using official resources to host cultural awareness events, Sykes said. They also cited a 2025 executive order that requires the Armed Forces to operate free from any preference based on race or sex, and decries Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, a Sykes spokesman said.
The ceremony was canceled as a result.
The Pentagon’s press office referred comment on the matter to spokespeople for each branch of the military. Cleveland.com has reached out Arlington National Cemetery for comment on the event’s cancellation.
“Honoring veterans should not be controversial,” said Sykes, an Akron Democrat. “Recognizing the service and sacrifice of women who wore our nation’s uniform should be one of the easiest things for us to come together around.”
The guidance at the center of the dispute was issued by Hegseth in January, under the heading “Identity Months Dead at DoD.”
It directed that Defense Department components and military departments could not use official resources, including staff time, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months — a list that includes Women’s History Month. The guidance called such efforts divisive, stating that they “put one group ahead of another” and “erode camaraderie.”
Sykes noted the news conference came the week of Women’s Veterans Recognition Day.
“Instead of preparing to celebrate these women, we are here explaining why a ceremony dedicated to honoring them was effectively canceled,” she said.
Kayla Williams, an Army veteran representing the Vet Voice Foundation, “linked the canceled ceremony to what she described as a broader pattern of erasing women’s military contributions.
She noted that Hegseth previously forced military services to remove web pages recognizing women’s accomplishments, including pages on the Arlington National Cemetery website honoring service members buried there.
She also said that Hegseth has pushed qualified women out of senior leadership positions and blocked women from being promoted.
The news conference came days after Hegseth blocked promotions for nine Navy officers selected by a board of senior admirals, The New York Times reported. Three of the removed officers were women and two were Black men. The resulting promotion list included no women, despite women making up roughly 21% of the active-duty Navy.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Times: “Military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions.”
Meredith Burns, a Marine Corps veteran and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America member, said the canceled ceremony represented a broader failure to account for the distinct experiences of women in the military and afterward.
“Celebrating service women makes America stronger, not weaker,” said Burns.
By: Sabrina Eaton
Source: Cleveland.com