Lambda Legal to Challenge Discriminatory Military Service Policy Preventing People Living with HIV from Enlisting in U.S. Armed Forces

Today, Lambda Legal filed a legal challenge to the U.S. Military policy that prevents people living with HIV from enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. The discriminatory policy requires that applicants for appointment and enlistment, as well as individuals being inducted into military Services, be screened for HIV and denied entry if they test positive.  

Lambda Legal and co-counsel Winston & Strawn LLP, Perkowski Legal, PC, and Scott A. Schoettes, Esq. filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of three individual plaintiffs who have been denied enlistment based on their HIV status. Minority Veterans of America (“MVA”) is also a plaintiff. MVA advances the interests of its civilian members who are living with HIV and wish to serve in the military. 

“The existing policy is out of step with science and unlawfully excludes people living with HIV from performing as members of the U.S. military. A positive HIV status alone has no effect on a person’s ability to safely serve,” said Kara Ingelhart, Senior Attorney at Lambda Legal. “Because HIV disproportionately impacts LGBTQ+ people and people of color, this discriminatory policy is not only outdated, but is also a serious equity issue that has a significant impact on communities who already face countless systemic barriers to accessing full life in America. Striking this policy would help expand opportunities for over 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with HIV — 42% of which are Black and 21.7% are Latinx.”  

“The military ban on Americans living with HIV is yet another holdover from a long era of needless discrimination,” said Bryce Cooper of Winston & Strawn. “The time has long passed for this senseless policy to end.”  

“For years, the military has found it difficult to meet the recruitment and end-strength goals for an all-volunteer force. Given this reality, it is non-sensical for the nation’s largest employer to turn away healthy, fit, and fully capable recruits just because they have HIV,” said co-counsel Peter Perkowski, who is also the Legal & Policy Director of plaintiff MVA. “This policy undermines efforts to build and maintain a strong, vibrant military, and there’s no scientific support for it. We will keep fighting until it ends.” 

“I served honorably and ably as a member of the Georgia National Guard. It’s frustrating that although I am healthy and fit for service, an outdated policy keeps me from continuing my family’s legacy of proud service to our country,” Plaintiff Isaiah Wilkins said.  

Wilkins is a 23-year-old gay Black cisgender gay man living with HIV in Georgia. His mother is a military veteran, and he’s wanted to serve for as long as he can remember. But after serving in the National Guard, enrolling at the Georgia Military college, and securing a position at the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at West Point, he was ultimately denied pursuit of his military career after a medical examination revealed his HIV status.  

Carol Coe is a 32-year-old Latina transgender lesbian woman living with HIV in Washington, D.C. with her wife. She enlisted in the Army while in high school and shipped to bootcamp at 18 years old in 2008. Coe contracted HIV while serving in the Army, but was not discharged, because military policy did not require discharging people based solely on HIV status.  Coe left the military in 2013 to access gender-affirming care and to live openly as a transgender woman. Coe loved serving in the military. She was honorably discharged and wants to return to serve in the military as the woman she is. 

Natalie Noe is a 32-year-old, cisgender straight woman of Indigenous Australian descent living with HIV in California. Noe immigrated to the United States after marrying a U.S. citizen. Soon after relocating, she became interested in joining the military. After applying to become a member of the Army Reserve, a recruiter mapped out a path that would align with her long-term career goals in the Army, which include eventually becoming a commissioned officer. Noe was given a “report date” of July 13, 2020.  Shortly thereafter, Noe was informed that she would not be allowed to join the Army Reserves because her HIV test was positive. 

Minority Veterans of America is a 501(c)(3) advocacy organization, the largest minority-focused military- and veteran-serving organization in the country. Its mission is to create belonging and advance equity and justice for the minority military and veteran community, including veterans and servicemembers living with HIV. MVA’s mission is to advocate for equity and justice for the minority veteran community. MVA’s work includes direct advocacy before Congress and federal agencies on issues of concern to its members, including those who are still serving. MVA aims to create an intersectional movement of minority voices and build a collective voice capable of influencing critical change for the good of minority servicemembers and veterans.