A federal judge in Virginia has issued a ruling prohibiting the U.S. military from discharging HIV-positive service members or refusing to allow them to become officers
RICHMOND, Va. — — U.S. service members who are HIV-positive cannot be discharged or barred from becoming an officer solely because they're infected with the virus, a federal judge in Virginia ruled. Advocates say it's one of the strongest rulings in years for people living with HIV.
Peter Perkowski, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called it “a landmark victory — probably the biggest ruling in favor of people living with HIV in the last 20 years." The airmen, identified by pseudonyms in the 2018 lawsuit, argued that major advancements in treatment mean they can easily be given appropriate medical care and present no real risk of transmission to others.
The DOJ acknowledged that treatment lowers the risk of transmitting HIV, but said the risk is amplified on the battlefield where soldiers can often come into contact with blood. “But any understanding of HIV that could justify this ban is outmoded and at odds with current science. Such obsolete understandings cannot justify a ban, even under a deferential standard of review and even according appropriate deference to the military’s professional judgments,” Judge James Wynn Jr. wrote in the unanimous 2020 ruling.
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