Military members who have tested positive for HIV are no longer barred from being deployed outside the country or being commissioned as officers, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
The decision reverses a long-standing Pentagon policy that required HIV-positive service members to provide a waiver to fulfill their duties and banned their enlistment altogether if diagnosed before entering the military. The policy was outdated and unfairly discriminated against HIV compared to other chronic health conditions, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled.
“Until these lawsuits, the Department of Defense was the only entity in the U.S. that was still legally permitted to discriminate against people living with HIV despite the existence of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act,” said Kara Ingelhart, a senior attorney at Lambda Legal who argued one of the cases challenging the policy. “This ruling knocks down the barrier preventing people living with HIV from commissioning and brings an end to the military’s ongoing discrimination.”
Under the decision, the Pentagon can no longer use an HIV diagnosis against asymptomatic service members with undetectable viral loads, which nearly all of the 2,000 HIV-positive members have, according to Lambda Legal. However, the agency can still reject enlistment bids from those diagnosed with the virus before joining the military.
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The military defended its decadeslong policy, arguing service members with HIV could pose a risk to other troops on the battlefield. However, prosecutors argued the virus cannot be spread through casual contact and can be effectively treated with daily medication.
Federal law has prohibited discrimination against people with the virus under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, with the military standing as the only employer left in the country to maintain the policy.
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The Justice Department can appeal the ruling, although it’s unclear whether it plans to do so. The DOJ declined to provide a comment to the Washington Examiner.
