Court orders gay military service ban lifted

Lieutenant Dan Choi, a gay Army officer honorably discharged under the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, speaks to the media after attempting to re-enlist at the Times Square military recruitment station in New York October 19, 2010.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Obama administration must stop enforcing the ban that prevents gay men and women from serving openly in the U.S. military, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama last year signed a landmark law repealing the policy that forced gays to keep their sexual orientation secret if they want to be in the military. The Pentagon has been in the process of writing rules for the new policy.

The issue of military service has long been a key issue for the gay community, along with same-sex marriage.

Last year, a California district court judge found that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy violated the U.S. Constitution, and issued an injunction. But the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals put that injunction on hold as the Department of Justice appealed the ruling.

In an order on Wednesday, a three judge panel of the 9th Circuit noted that the process of repealing DADT is now "well underway."

The government "can no longer satisfy the demanding standard" to keep the injunction on hold, the court ruled.

The Pentagon said it was still studying the ruling, but added it would comply with the court order. A spokesman, Colonel Dave Lapan, said the U.S. military was immediately taking "steps to inform the field of this order."

A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans which filed the suit said the ruling "removes all uncertainty - American service members are no longer under threat of discharge as the repeal implementation process goes forward."

Since the ban became a formal policy in 1993, an estimated 13,000 people have been expelled from the armed forces for violating the rules.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Dan Levine; Editing by Jackie Frank)