The sweeping and immediate order telling the Pentagon to stop booting openly gay soldiers out of the military will reverberate from Afghan battlefields to hard-fought political contests in next month's mid-term elections.
The injunction issued Tuesday by California Judge Virginia Phillips slaps the Pentagon with an order to "to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding, that may have been commenced" under the policy.
Judge Phillips had already ruled the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was unconstitutional because it trampled on the constitutional rights to free speech and against self-incrimination of gay military personnel. By adding the injunction, she effectively ordered an end to discharging gay soldiers. The government has 60 days to appeal.
Barack Obama promised during his run for the White House to end the murky and controversial Pentagon policy of "don't ask, don't tell," which allows gays to serve in the military only if their homosexuality is kept secret. But the President has been faulted by rights advocates for keeping a very low profile on the issue.
The policy - first concocted in 1993 by then-president Bill Clinton - remains politically contentious.
Last month, an attempt by some Democrats to repeal it failed in the Senate after leading Republicans - including John McCain and several breakaway Democrats - successfully thwarted the effort.
"I regret that the Armed Services Committee has evolved into a forum for the social agenda of the liberal left," said Mr. McCain, a decorated former navy aviator who was imprisoned and tortured for years during the Vietnam War.
Mr. McCain says he hasn't taken a position on repealing "don't ask, don't tell," but like many Republicans has tried to portray Democrats as pushing for sweeping social change despite misgivings in the military.
More than 13,000 personnel have been kicked out of the four branches of the U.S. military for failing to hide that they were gay, including some who have won medals for battlefield valour or been injured in combat.
For years, anonymous accusations were sufficient to start a probe, often resulting in serving military personnel being faced with the stark choice of taking an honourable discharge or being outed while trying to remain in uniform. Last spring, the Pentagon curbed third-party accusations.
Top military officers have said the military must adapt to accepting gay and lesbian troops. "I'm hard-pressed to support a policy and a law that forces people to come and lie every day," Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as said. He said a repeal of the policy would "be the right thing to do."
Similarly, General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, has said "the time has come to consider a change" to the policy.