The US military has begun accepting applications from openly gay individuals following a court ruling that struck down a law requiring them to keep their sexual orientation secret, the Pentagon said Tuesday, dpa reported.
The decision comes as a federal judge in California is expected Tuesday to reject an appeal from the Obama administration requesting a stay on her previous ruling to end enforcement of the controversial law.
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith emphasized that in the past recruiters would not ask an applicant about their sexual preference and that policy has not changed. The only difference, she said, is that gays or lesbians won't be turned away if they reveal the sexuality.
"We still don't ask, so it would have to be up to the applicant's discretion as to whether he or she would want to make that information known to the recruiter," she said. She added that openly gay applicants would be warned that a "court reversal may occur at any time."
The order went out on Friday, Smith said.
The US Justice Department has appealed the September 12 decision by appellate Judge Virginia Phillips ending the 1993 law commonly known as "don't ask don't tell."
Phillips determined that requiring gays to keep their homosexuality a secret effectively denies free speech and violated the first amendment of the US Constitution.
On Tuesday, the judge denied a request by the government to keep her ruling from going into effect until the appeal can be heard.
President Barack Obama has stated he intends to get rid of the law, but wants to do so through Congress and a plan laid out by the Pentagon earlier this year to phase out "don't ask don't tell."
A Pentagon evaluation on how to get rid of "don't ask don't tell" is due December 1. Obama's effort to repeal the law was blocked by Senate Republicans in September, but the issue is expected to resurface on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.
More than 10,000 men and women have been expelled since "don't ask don't tell" went into effect once their sexuality was revealed, according to gay rights groups.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in February announced plans to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" and established a commission to study the best way to implement a new policy.
In March, he issued new rules to make it harder to expel individuals from the military pending the outcome of formulating a new policy.
The Pentagon's commission is to determine how openly gay members of the military can be integrated into the rank-and-file with minimal disruptions, and Gates has stated his desire to change the policy slowly and cautiously.
Opponents of lifting the ban worried that open homosexuality could disrupt discipline within the ranks and ultimately harm combat effectiveness. Gay rights groups said the current policy has deprived the military of talent, such as Arabic language specialists.