A small team representing the army, navy and air force will start work immediately to present a report in January 1996. It will take evidence from all ranks and visit the armed forces in other nations.
Britain's High Court upheld a ban on homosexuals in the armed forces in June by dismissing test cases brought by three gay men and a lesbian. They had argued the ban violated their rights under European equality laws.
But Lord Justice Simon Brown, in giving his verdict, expressed sympathy for them, called on parliament to review the ban and said its days could be numbered.
The issue has aroused much controversy in the United States, where President Bill Clinton had to back down from his 1992 election pledge to lift the U.S. ban after fierce Pentagon resistance.
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