A federal US judge has upheld an order stopping the US military from barring openly gay people serving in its ranks, rejecting arguments from US administration lawyers who wanted the ban to hold.
US District Judge Virginia Phillips said the US Justice Department had failed to make a compelling case for lifting the order she made last week to suspend the controversial "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.
"None of the factors the court weighs in considering whether to enter a stay favors granting a stay here," she said in a ruling, exactly a week after she struck down the ban on homosexuals serving openly in uniform.
In a six-page decision, she rejected US authorities' argument that suspending the ban harm military readiness and unit cohesion."
"They had the chance to introduce evidence to that effect at trial," Phillips said. "Defendants did not do so. The evidence they belatedly present now does not meet their burden to obtain a stay."
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Phillips, who sits in a federal court in California, last week ordered the government to immediately suspend the rule, which requires gay troops to keep quiet about their sexual orientation or face expulsion.
Although President Barack Obama has called for scrapping the 1993 law and tried to persuade Congress to end the ban, the court order has put his administration in a bind as it tries to carry out a review of the issue.
Obama had ordered a year-long review of how ending the ban would affect military readiness, effectiveness and unit cohesion, which is due to be completed on December 1.
