US military allowed to wear uniforms at gay pride march
US military personnel took part in the San Diego march last year - but without uniform
The US military will for the first time allow its members to wear uniform at a gay pride march.
The permission was granted for the Gay Pride Parade in San Diego, California, on Saturday, a military-wide Pentagon directive said.
The memo said the move was a one-off exception for this year's march only.
It comes after a longstanding ban on openly gay people serving in the US military - known as "don't ask, don't tell" - was ended last year.
"Based on our current knowledge of the event and current policies, we hereby are granting approval for service members in uniform to participate in this year's parade," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Rene Bardorf said in the directive.
Permission was given on condition that military personnel take part in a personal capacity only and adhere to the US military's standards on uniform wear, she added.
Numerous service personnel marched at last year's San Diego event, but wore T-shirts bearing the name of their service branch instead of uniform
Gay Uniform parade.
Gay Uniform parade.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”