US military study gives green light to end homosexual ban

The Pentagon unveiled a study on Tuesday that predicted little impact if the US military ended its ban on gays, bolstering President Barack Obama's push to get Congress to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" by year-end.

"Today I call on the Senate to act as soon as possible so I can sign this repeal into law this year and ensure that Americans who are willing to risk their lives for their country are treated fairly and equally," Obama said in a statement.

Gay rights activists swiftly applauded the study, which dismissed or minimised concerns among some US lawmakers and up to a third of the military about ending the policy.

But top US generals voiced concern about the fallout on US forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and defence secretary Robert Gates warned they would need plenty of time to prepare for integration of openly serving gays and lesbians.

"An abundance of care and preparation is required if we are to avoid a disruptive -- and potentially dangerous -- impact on the performance of those serving at the 'tip of the spear' in America's wars," Gates told reporters.

At least 13,000 men and women have been expelled from the military since "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which allows gays to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation private, came into force in 1993.

The study dismissed as exaggerated notions that ending the ban would lead to overt promiscuity, widespread "effeminacy" among men and "unwelcome advances." It also opposed separate living quarters or bathrooms for gay or lesbian troops, a possibility raised in the past by some in the US military.

It recommended a training program to educate soldiers on the implications of lifting the ban. Gates refused to say how long such training might take but warned that an immediate end to the ban through court action would be "dangerous."

"If a court ordered us to do this tomorrow, I believe the risk to the force would be high -- if we had no time to prepare," Gates said.

Still, the nine-month study concluded: "Our military can do this, even during this time of war."

The debate over ending the ban has evoked memories of past civil rights hurdles, particularly within the US military.

The study noted the military had faced far stronger resistance to racial integration in the 1940s and 1950s, when the armed forces were emerging from World War Two and in the midst of Cold War tensions and the Korean War.

"But by 1953, 95% of all African-American soldiers were serving in racially integrated units, while public buses in Montgomery, Alabama, and other cities were still racially segregated," the study said.

The survey of just over 115,000 troops on ending the ban on gays showed a solid majority did not believe repeal would affect their ability to do their jobs. Some 69% believed they had already worked with a homosexual.

The study acknowledged that a "significant minority" of about 30% overall expressed negative views or concerns about repeal. The figure was higher in the Marine Corps.

The "most intense and sharpest divergence of views" on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" came from the military's 3,000 chaplains, a large number of whom believe that "homosexuality is a sin and an abomination," it said.

Ending the ban has not been a top legislative priority for Obama in his first two years in office, but the repeal gained added urgency after fellow Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives and saw their majority slimmed down in the Senate in the November 2 congressional elections.

The White House sees a narrow window of opportunity to get the ban repealed in the three weeks before the current Democratic-controlled Congress adjourns for the holidays.

Some Washington pundits have suggested that if Obama fails to do this, disillusioned gay voters could punish him in the 2012 presidential elections by staying away from the polls.

Gay rights activists heckled Obama at some election campaign events, pushing him to take action by the end of the year.

"We are working for the day to come soon when all members of our military can serve our country without invidious discrimination," said Kathleen Taylor, Washington executive director at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The repeal push was also welcomed by Margaret Witt, a decorated flight nurse, who was dismissed under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" but ordered reinstated in a landmark court ruling in September.

"I hope I'll soon be known as just a flight nurse and not a lesbian flight nurse," she told reporters in Seattle.