First Sikh soldier allowed to wear turban by Marines says 'there is still more ...

The Marines broke with centuries-old tradition and ruled that a Sikh soldier can wear a turban and sport an unshorn beard in uniform - but only at duty stations and not while he is deployed or at military ceremonies.  

First Lt. Sukhbir Toor wrapped a turban onto his head after pulling on his Combat Utility Uniform last week for the first time since joining the service in 2017, the first Sikh in the branch's 246-year existence to do so.

While the Combat Arms Officer feels this is a step in the right direction, he intends to sue the Marines unless he is granted permission to wear his turban and maintain his beard not just on base, but in combat and in his dress blues. 

He said that these limitations meant he 'would have to either sacrifice my career or my ability to practice my religion' - thus, he has started the appeals process to remove the limitations. 

'We’ve come a long way, but there is still more to go,' Toor told the New York Times. 

'The Marine Corps needs to show it really means what it has been saying about strength in diversity — that it doesn’t matter what you look like, it just matters that you can do your job.'

In Sikhism, turbans are worn by men as a reminder that all people are created equal - when the faith was developing in South Asia in the 15th through 18th centuries, only elites wore the garment. 

It also facilitates the religions' tenet that no man or woman is to cut hair from any part of their body, a practice that is viewed as a commitment to God's will. 

Under the Marine Corps' limited allowances, Lieutenant Toor's beard will need to stay neatly trimmed, and be inspected by his battalion commander. He will need to shave entirely if he is sent on a combat mission.

The Sikh Coalition, the civil rights advocacy group that is representing Lieutenant Toor and has helped other Sikh troops apply for dress code exceptions, wrote that they are 'considering [their] final options before litigation' in a Sunday press release.

'It is disappointing that the Marine Corps only wants to allow 1st Lt. Toor to practice his faith in ways and at times that are convenient to them; they would rather derail his promising career than acknowledge his right to practice Sikhi,' said Giselle Klapper, Sikh Coalition Senior Staff Attorney. 

'[Lieutenant] Toor’s case is the latest pivotal development in our 12-year campaign to combat employment discrimination by our nation’s largest employer, the Department of Defense.'

In 2016, the organization paved the way for Sikhis serving in the U.S. Army to wear turbans along with their uniforms when their client Captain Simratpal Singh won the right in court to wear his turban and keep his hair unshorn without exceptions. 

Now,  more than 100 Sikh soldiers and airmen currently serving in the Army (as of 2017) and Air Force (as of last year) are allowed to wear their articles of faith while doing so - but the Marine Corps has yet to follow suit. 

Sikhi soldiers in Australia, Britain and Canada have fought and won the right to demonstrate their faith in uniform as well.  

'In 2016, we successfully took the U.S. Army to court over the right to maintain one’s articles of faith while serving in the military, and we’re prepared to do the same with the USMC now,' said Klapper. 

'No Sikh, in any workplace, should be forced to make a false choice between maintaining their articles of faith and excelling in their chosen profession.'

The organization wrote that, along with providing Lieutenant Toor pro-bono representation, they have reached out to representatives from the White House, the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Department of Defense. 

'For more than a decade, advocacy and legal action has ensured

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