Clinton Appointed Judge Rules Military Can’t Deny HIV-Positive Enlistees

A Virginia court has ruled the Defense Department may not prohibit any enlistees who have undetectable viral loads of HIV from joining the military.

Clinton appointed U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in her ruling that those who are asymptomatic HIV-positive may not be barred from joining the military.

Brinkema stated that barring HIV-positive enlistees is “irrational, arbitrary, and capricious.”

The Clinton-appointed judge further wrote, “Modern science has transformed the treatment of HIV.”

After the ruling, Gregory Nevins, an attorney who helped file the lawsuit  against the Department of Defense, in a press release, “Americans living with HIV no longer face categorical barriers to service careers – discharge, bans on commissioning, bans on deployment and finally bans on enlisting.”

Federal Judge Rules Defense Department Can’t Ban HIV-Positive People from Joining the Military https://t.co/60Qm8yiJbI

— Military.com (@Militarydotcom) August 23, 2024

Per The Military Times:

The Defense Department may not prohibit people who are asymptomatic HIV-positive from joining the military, a judge in Virginia ruled this week.

U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema wrote in a decision filed Tuesday that barring those with undetectable viral loads from serving is “irrational, arbitrary, and capricious” as it contributes to a stigma about people who are HIV-positive while also actively hampering the military’s own recruitment goals.

Previously, the court ruled that asymptomatic HIV-positive troops with undetectable viral loads who maintained treatment remained capable of doing their military jobs, including deployments, Brinkema noted.

Today, HIV treatment medications often involve little more than taking a daily pill, and that lower viral load from meds also prevents transmission to others.

Judge rules military can’t turn away HIV-positive enlistees https://t.co/p0v77YXQAA pic.twitter.com/rnGv7YvgKr

— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) August 22, 2024

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Isaiah Wilkins, 24, who sought to join the Army but was denied because he was HIV-positive; Carol Coe, 33, who served in the Army in 2008 but left the service after becoming HIV-positive; and Natalie Noe, 33, who attempted to join the military but was denied after she tested positive for the virus.

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