In a landmark ruling, a federal court struck down the last categorical disqualification preventing people diagnosed with HIV from joining the U.S. Armed Services. Pro-LGBTQ+ law firm Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit in partnership with Peter Perkowski, Esq., Scott A. Schoettes, Esq., and Winston & Strawn LLP on behalf of three individuals who could not enlist or reenlist based on their HIV status.
“We are thrilled the court has ruled in our favor and agreed that the military’s outdated policies blocking people living with HIV from enlisting are unconstitutional,” said Peter Perkowski, plaintiff attorney and Legal & Policy Director, Minority Veterans of America (MVA). “Thanks to modern science, there is no legitimate reason to continue denying people living with HIV the ability to enlist. I am proud to have fought and won for these brave American patriots, and we urge the Department of Defense to immediately comply with the court’s decision.”
Isaiah Wilkins, 24, wanted to join the Army after serving in the Georgia National Guard but was denied because of his HIV+ status. Carol Coe, 33, served in the Army in 2008 and left the service after contracting HIV, but she wants to return to duty. Then there’s Natalie Noe, 33, who was denied entry into service in 2020 because she tested positive for HIV.
The plaintiffs contended the military’s policy preventing HIV+ individuals from serving is illegal, arguing the current policy contradicts current scientific understanding of the virus. They challenged the rule based on the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause and the Administrative Procedure Act, asserting the restriction unjustly targeted a specific group.
In court, the Pentagon defended its position by stating it’s reasonable for the military to exclude individuals who might pose a known health risk to the armed forces.
The Pentagon’s arguments included the incurable nature of HIV, the potential for HIV+ service members to miss their daily medication and subsequently increase their viral load, the possibility of the virus spreading through blood exposure or transfusions, as well as the risk of those with the virus facing additional health complications.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said the arguments the Pentagon made to prevent HIV-positive individuals from servin wasn’t “supported by the evidence.”
“Defendants’ policies prohibiting the accession of asymptomatic HIV-positive individuals with undetectable viral loads are irrational, arbitrary and capricious,” the judge wrote. “Even worse, they contribute to the ongoing stigma surrounding HIV-positive individuals while actively hampering the military’s own recruitment goals.”
Brinkema mentioned her landmark 2022 decision which terminated the Defense Department’s policy of forbidding service members who were diagnosed with HIV after enlisting from deploying in active duty outside the continental U.S. and being commissioned as officers.
Research has shown HIV+ individuals who have an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the virus, which has been made possible by scientific breakthroughs with antiretroviral treatment. In fact, there’s been so much progress in the medical treatment for HIV, enough to where the life expectancy of those living with HIV is practically the same as the national average.
Wilkins, the named plaintiff in the case, said the court opened doors for him and others who live with HIV and aspire to join the U.S. Armed Services.
“This is a victory not only for me but for other people living with HIV who want to serve,” Wilkins said in a statement. “As I’ve said before, giving up on my dream to serve my country was never an option. I am eager to apply to enlist in the Army without the threat of a crippling discriminatory policy.”