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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| US military gay ban 'should go' | US military gay ban 'should go' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Gays should be allowed to serve openly in the US military, the country's top commander has said. | Gays should be allowed to serve openly in the US military, the country's top commander has said. |
| Adm Mike Mullen told a Senate hearing into the ban on openly gay personnel that allowing them to serve was "the right thing to do". | Adm Mike Mullen told a Senate hearing into the ban on openly gay personnel that allowing them to serve was "the right thing to do". |
| He said there were practical difficulties in repealing the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but that the military could handle it. | He said there were practical difficulties in repealing the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but that the military could handle it. |
| President Barack Obama has pledged to repeal the ban. | President Barack Obama has pledged to repeal the ban. |
| Adm Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was concerned about a policy that forces people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens". | |
| He stressed he was "speaking for myself and myself only". | |
| Defence secretary Robert Gates announced a year-long review of the policy when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee with Adm Mullen. | |
| His chief legal adviser, Jeh Johnson, and Gen Carter Ham would lead a review of how to go about lifting the ban on openly gay military personnel. | |
| Legal compromise | |
| Under the 1993 law, engaging in homosexual conduct - even if the person concerned does not tell anyone - can been enough to qualify a person for dismissal. | |
| It was introduced as a compromise between President Bill Clinton's desire to totally lift the ban, and concerns from Congress and the military that a lifting would be disruptive. | |
| Recent figures from the Pentagon show that 428 service members were dismissed for being openly gay in 2009, down from 619 dismissed in 2008. | |
| The number is by far the lowest since 1997, when 997 service members were dismissed. | |
| Overall, more than 10,900 troops have been dismissed under the policy. |