Gates said the changes seek to enforce "in a fairer and more appropriate manner" the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law which requires gays to keep quiet about their sexual orientation or face expulsion from the military.
The guidelines represent an interim step to ease the effect of the law even as Congress debates President Barack Obama's call to repeal the policy entirely.
Under the decision, only higher-ranking officers will be allowed to initiate and oversee discharge cases. And information passed on to lawyers, clergy, psychotherapists and medical professionals would be deemed confidential, Gates said.
The guidelines, which go into effect immediately, also raise the threshold for what is accepted as "credible" information, discouraging the use of hearsay, requiring those providing evidence to take an oath and "special scrutiny" for fellow troops possibly out to harm their comrades.
"I believe these changes represent an important improvement, in the way the current law is put into practice, above all by providing a greater measure of common sense and common decency, to a process for handling what are difficult and complex issues for all involved," he said.
The measures, which apply to all pending cases, reflected in part suggestions from activists working to repeal the ban, which welcomed the defense secretary's move.
"The regulatory changes announced today are another major step forward in making the 1993 ban less draconian," Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Service Members Legal Defense Network, said in a statement.
"At least a gay service member can divulge his or her sexuality to a physician or therapist without fear of getting fired. Service members can also report domestic abuse without the fear of being discharged."
Gates had previously expressed concern that soldiers who had kept their sexual orientation quiet and abided by the law were sometimes forced out after they were exposed by others, including by those who might hold a grudge.
Earlier this month, a group of US senators introduced legislation to end the gay ban -- a plan backed by Obama but opposed by some top US military officers.
A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in July 2009.
The top US military officer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has strongly endorsed ending the ban, saying the current law "forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."
But in a March 8 letter to the Stars and Stripes newspaper, a three-star Army officer, Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon, publicly urged troops to speak out if they oppose lifting the ban on gays serving openly.
Mullen and Gates both said on Thursday the general was out of line in declaring his views publicly.
"I think that for an active-duty officer to comment on an issue like this is inappropriate," Gates said.
Mullen said the matter was being addressed in the "chain of command."
Gates has launched a review of the current policy, due to be completed by December 1, designed to examine the possible effect of repealing the 1993 law.
The review will seek the views of troops and military families on the issue, as well as take into account the experience of NATO allies and other armies that permit gays to serve openly.
More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the law since it was adopted.
The 1993 law replaced an outright prohibition against homosexuals in the military.
Former president Bill Clinton agreed to the compromise policy after meeting stiff resistance from commanders and lawmakers when he proposed allowing gays to serve openly.
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer
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