Gays allowed to serve openly in US military

US lawmakers have voted to allow gays to serve openly in the military for the first time, but troops must wait months before they can reveal their sexual orientation without facing dismissal.

Amid concerns over unit cohesion at a time when the United States is still heavily embroiled militarily in Afghanistan and Iraq, senior officials want a deliberate process to ensure the smoothest possible transition.

Several Republicans joined Democrats to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a 1993 law enacted under Bill Clinton’s administration as a compromise from an outright ban on gays and lesbians serving in the US military. Saturday’s vote, which capped two weeks of bitterly divisive debate, marked for some the biggest shift in the US military since racial integration began in 1948. President Barack Obama, who vowed during his 2008 White House bid to lift the ban, hailed the “historic step.”

“It is time to recognise that sacrifice, valour and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed,” he added.

When Mr Obama signs the measure into law in the coming days, he will launch a White House and Pentagon certification process that could take up to a year.

Mr Obama, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen must now certify that lifting the ban can be done without harming military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruitment.

Mr Gates said the Pentagon would “immediately proceed with the planning necessary to carry out this change carefully and methodically, but purposefully.”

A Pentagon study issued this month found a clear majority of troops were not bothered by the prospect of lifting the ban and that the military could implement the change without major disruption or upheaval.