The U.S. Department of Defense is set to treat discrimination based on sexual orientation in the same way it handles race, religion, sex, age and national origin, Secretary Ashton Carter announced on Tuesday at an LGBT pride event at the Pentagon, according to the New York Daily News.

"Recognizing that our openness to diversity is one of the things that have allowed us to be the best in the world, we must ensure that everyone who's able and willing to serve has the full and equal opportunity to do so," Carter noted.

With the new rules in place, gay, lesbian and bisexual members of the U.S. military will be protected by the so-called Military Equal Opportunity Policy, which the newspaper called another "step toward equality" after the 2011 repeal of the Clinton-era "don't ask, don't tell" policy that had prohibited gay and lesbian service members from serving openly in the armed forces.

Carter noted that an inclusive environment was critical to the military's effort to attract recruits and that discrimination has no place in the forces.

"Young Americans today are more diverse, open and tolerant than past generations. If we're going to attract the best and brightest among them to contribute to our mission of national defense, we have to ourselves be more diverse, open and tolerant, too," he noted. "We need to be a meritocracy; we need to focus relentlessly on our mission, which means the thing that matters most about a person is what they can contribute to national defense," Carter added.

The secretary remained mum on the fate of transgender troops, however, the New York Times noted; that means that all soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines can still be forced out of their respective branches because of their gender identity, the newspaper warned.

The Williams Institute, a think-tank at the University of California Los Angeles' School of Law, estimates that around 15,500 transgender individuals are currently on active duty in the military, the New York Daily News revealed.