US bill seeks end to gay military limits

In a move that could bedevil President Barack Obama, a US lawmaker on Monday introduced legislation requiring the US military to drop its "don't ask, don't tell" policy and let gays serve openly.

"It makes no sense to discharge capable service members for something as irrelevant as their sexual orientation," California Representative Ellen Tauscher wrote in a letter to her colleagues urging support for her bill.

It was not clear what fate awaited the legislation, which came 16 years after then-president Bill Clinton tried to fulfill a campaign vow to lift the ban on homosexuals serving in the military and ended up locked in a bruising political battle that sapped his influence shortly after taking office.

Clinton ended up backing a controversial policy usually abbreviated as "don't ask, don't tell," which aimed to allow gays to remain in the military so long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation.

The election of Obama, who has said he wants to end the ban, has energised foes of the policy, who point to opinion polls showing nearly 80 percent of the US public supports repealing the law.

"I believe that it is always the right time to 'right a wrong.' With fifteen years of social progress and the recent sea of change we have witnessed in the national political landscape, I am further encouraged that now is definitely the time to act," wrote Tauscher.

The law has led to a large number of dismissals of gay service members, with some 12,500 soldiers sent packing for acknowledging their homosexuality or after being outed as gay.

Those booted included some 800 with key jobs such as Arabic translators, medical staff, pilots and intelligence personnel, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network (SDLN), a group which has fought to end all restrictions on military service based on sexual orientation.

Conservatives were expected to fight any effort to lift the restrictions.

Tauscher said Washington's 25 NATO partners include 20 countries that allow open service and "none of them have experienced any detriment to troop morale or unit cohesion" - a core argument of those who support the restrictions.

"It is time to allow the military to recruit and retain all of the qualified, talented individuals who wish to serve our country, regardless of their sexual orientation," she said.