Britain Ends Ban on Gays in Military, Introduces Code

Forced to act by a European court ruling, Britain on Wednesday lifted its ban on gays in the military and introduced instead a code of conduct for sexual behavior.

“As no primary or secondary legislation is required, with effect from today, homosexuality will no longer be a bar to service in Britain’s armed forces,” Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon of the governing Labor Party told the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament.

Opposition Conservative Party lawmakers expressed outrage.

“This appalling decision will be greeted with dismay among ordinary soldiers in the armed forces, many of whom joined the services precisely because they wished to turn their back on some of the values of modern society,” said Gerald Howarth, a Tory.

Hoon acknowledged opposition to gays in the military but added that “the law is the law. We cannot choose the decisions we implement.”

Under the new code of conduct, to be published next month, inappropriate sexual behavior between personnel on duty--and not a person’s sexual orientation--would be a punishable offense.

The key test will be whether an individual’s behavior undermines the “efficiency or operational effectiveness” of the military, Hoon said.

Britain promised to lift the ban after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in September in favor of four gay enlistees dismissed from the military. The judges called the ban a grave interference in private lives.

Personnel dismissed for being gay can apply to rejoin the services, and actions against current military personnel will be halted.

In the future, the sexual orientation of military personnel will be “essentially a private matter for the individual,” Hoon said.