An 18-year-old law that prevented serving US military personnel from disclosing that they were gay has been formally repealed.

At one minute past midnight eastern time (0401 GMT), the controversial don’t ask don’t tell (DADT) law was abolished after its repeal was signed into law some nine months ago.

Introduced by President Clinton in 1993 as a compromise step to full equality, DADT allowed gay and lesbian members of the military to serve only if their sexuality remained secret or was not reported.

The Servicemembers Legal Defence Network estimates that since the law’s introduction, 13,000 gay men and lesbians have been discharged after their sexual orientation was revealed.

In some cases dismissals were made on the basis of testimony from jilted lovers or those with personal grievances.

Barack Obama had pledged to overturn DADT during his 2008 election campaign, but action on the issue appeared stalled until his January 2010 state of the union speech. Injecting fresh energy into the cause Obama said: “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.”

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