A federal judge on April 6 reversed longstanding policies that previously blocked HIV-positive military service members from becoming officers and deploying in active duty outside of the United States, in what proponents are calling a âgroundbreaking ruling.â
The policy was put in place by the Department of Defense and prevented service members living with HIVâhuman immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDSâfrom commissioning as officers and being deployed overseas, thus limiting their opportunity for career advancement.
However, District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of three service members in two separate cases, which were first brought in 2018 by the LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal on behalf of the service members…