FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 6 2025
Contact: media@saldef.org
SALDEF Denounces Recent Comments at Quantico, Virginia
Washington, D.C.—On September 30th, 2025, during a speech in Quantico, Virginia, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced sweeping new directives for troops targeting the appearance of personnel, including the elimination of religious exemptions for beards. A subsequent memorandum states that facial hair waivers will not be authorized, reverting to grooming standards pre 2010.
SALDEF strongly opposes this directive. It represents a troubling disregard for the religious rights of service members—including Sikh Americans—who have long fought for the right to serve with their articles of faith intact.
For Sikhs, maintaining unshorn hair (kesh) and wearing a turban is not a matter of personal style. It is central to our faith and identity. To dismiss these expressions as mere violations of discipline not only ignores decades of progress on religious accommodation, but insults the integrity of Sikh soldiers who serve honorably while remaining true to their beliefs. This directive signals a dangerous retreat to exclusionary policies that alienate those who have fought to serve while staying true to their faith.
“Religious accommodations for service members, especially Sikhs who wear turbans and beards, marked a significant step towards a more equitable nation,” said Kiran Kaur Gill, Executive Director of SALDEF. “These new directives deliberately dismantle that progress. We will not stand by while this administration rolls back hard-won civil rights.”
We call on Secretary Hegseth to reverse this exclusionary directive. Serving one’s country should never require abandoning your faith. Sikh Americans have demonstrated that it is possible—and powerful—to serve with honor, courage, conviction and articles of the Sikh identity.