A Virginia court has ruled that the Department of Defense cannot bar individuals with HIV who have undetectable viral loads from enlisting in 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.”
Following the ruling, Gregory Nevins, an attorney who helped file the lawsuit against the Department of Defense, said 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.”
The Military Times reported:
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