A US federal judge has ruled that the military can’t discharge HIV-positive service members.
Since the mid-1980s, the US Defense Department has implemented restrictive regulations regarding people living with HIV.
Under the terms, recruits who have or test positive for HIV are barred from enlisting into the military. However, if an individual tests postive after enlisting, they will be allowed to stay in the service but will be banned from officer promotions.
In a report from the Yale Law Journal, a Navy instruction justified these archaic restrictions due to the inability to participate in “battlefield blood donor activities, or military donation programs.”
However, after 30 years, US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema finally put an end to the harmful regulations.
On 6 April, the Virginia-based official ruled that the military could no longer discharge or prevent promotions of HIV-positive individuals.
Brinkema also stated that the Defense Department’s policy was scientifically outdated and treated those living with HIV unfairly compared to other service members with different chronic illnesses.
According to a report from NBC News, the landmark order stemmed from two cases involving two unnamed HIV-positive Airforce members and Sgt. Nick Harrison from the D.C. Army National Guard.
Initially, the two lawsuits were filed separately but were eventually combined for “discovery and argument”, as reported by HIV Plus magazine.
The judge also ordered the Airforce and Army to rescind their decision of discharging the aforementioned individuals.
Shortly after the ruling, the plaintiff’s lawyers and activists praised the court for ending the harmful legislative stigmas.
“Until these lawsuits, the Department of Defense was the only entity in the US 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,” Kate Ingelhart, senior attorney at Lambda Legal and co-counsel for the plaintiffs said in a statement.
“This ruling knocks down the barrier preventing people living with HIV from commissioning and brings an end to the military’s ongoing discrimination against approximately 2,000 service members currently serving with HIV.”
Sgt Harrison and the two Airforce members, who were named Richard Roe and Victor Voe, also expressed their excitement about the ruling in heartfelt statements.
“I’m incredibly pleased with the court’s decision and it’s very reassuring to hear the court recognize that these policies are irrational and based on outdated stereotypes and stigma,” he said.
Roe echoed similar sentiments and said they no longer have to “live in fear of discrimination.”
In regards to Voe, they expressed their hope that more people would become educated regarding the current HIV medical treatments.
“I would love for this decision to serve as an educational opportunity for millions of people out there to realize that appropriately treated HIV has almost no effect on life expectancy, that science and medicine have progressed to a point that we can live normally and can perform any job, including that of a service member who deploys into a combat zone,” they explained.
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