Proponents of ending the military's ban on gays serving openly in uniform are cheering a Senate vote Saturday in favor of repealing the policy, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But the policy remains in force, and implementation promises more political fights.

For gay-rights advocates who mobilized in support of passage, the Senate vote represented a clear victory.

Joe Solmonese, the president of Human Rights Campaign, said passage of the bill marked the end of a "failed and discriminatory" policy. Gays and lesbians, he said, "will soon be able to serve with the full honor and integrity the uniform demands."

Robin McGhee, co-founder of gay-rights group GetEqual, said, "We are thrilled today that the Senate has taken one more step toward full legal equality for all Americans." Pop star Lady Gaga delivered a message on Twitter. "Can't hold back the tears+pride," she wrote. "We did it."

The Senate repeals the ban against gays serving openly in the U.S. military, sending the measure to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The American Civil Liberties Union also applauded the vote.

"For nearly two decades, gay and lesbian service members have been forced to hide who they are in order to serve their country," said Laura Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington legislative office. "That will soon end. The significance of this vote should not be underestimated and should serve as confirmation that we should not and cannot codify discrimination into our laws."

Some conservatives, however, registered strong disappointment. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R., Okla.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the current policy "has proven to work providing good order and discipline to our nation's military" since it was introduced in 1993. "As the old adage goes, why fix something that isn't broken?" he said.

Key Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee urged that the Pentagon to carefully weigh the impact of implementation on those currently serving overseas. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R., Calif.), the current ranking member of the committee, said the department should "stand firm to ensure the implementation process does not create any distractions for our troops fighting on the frontlines in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.), the top Republican on the committee's military personnel panel, said, "There is much more information to examine and many more conversations to have with military leaders in order to ensure there is no impact on military readiness, recruitment, and morale going forward."

For some observers, implementation will be the real test of the policy change. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, the senior adviser for the left-leaning think tank National Security Network, said the military could enforce the new policy without losing focus on their core mission. "Our armed forces have the discipline many times over to conform to repeal and integration without becoming distracted, and I have absolute confidence in our Secretary of Defense and our service chiefs to prepare the force for implementation," he said.

Passage of the measure may also spur broader debate about issues like gay marriage rights. Kate Kendell, the executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said debate over the military policy "ignited a national conversation not just about the ability of lesbians and gay men to be good soldiers, but about the underpinnings of all sorts of government-sanctioned discrimination," she said.

—Geoff Fowler contributed to this article