Federal Judge Prohibits U.S. Military from Discharging HIV-Positive Troops; Asymptomatic Service Members to Be Allowed to Become Officers

A federal judge has prohibited the U.S. military from discharging troops who are HIV-positive in a pair of rulings issued on Wednesday. Service members who contract HIV but are asymptomatic must also be allowed to become officers, the court ruled.

Scott Schoettes, who represented plaintiffs in the cases and “lives openly with HIV,” said Virginia U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that the “Pentagon’s policies regarding service members with HIV are not only outdated, but unlawful,” Bloomberg reported.

Schoettes said the decisions are some of “the strongest judicial rulings in over two decades for people living with HIV.”