The Defense Department is asking a panel of judges at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate its policy banning prospective service members who are HIV+ even though they are asymptomatic and have undetectable viral loads.
Military asks Fourth Circuit to let it disqualify applicants with HIV @joedodson16 https://t.co/tngjOYBTOc
— Courthouse News (@CourthouseNews) December 9, 2025
From Courthouse News:
The military, arguing in front of three Republican-appointed judges, claimed the financial and logistical burdens posed by HIV-positive service members provide a rational basis for their exclusion from the armed forces.
The plaintiffs include a trans woman who was honorably discharged from the Army for being HIV-positive, a gay man who was in the Georgia National Guard but cannot join the Army, and a cisgender woman who cannot enlist in the Army because she has HIV, along with the advocacy organization Minority Veterans of America.
Today, the majority of HIV-positive individuals are on a one-tablet regimen that has minimal side effects. The United Kingdom, France and Australia allow those with undetectable loads to join their military ranks.
The plaintiffs won their original case when a federal judge ruled in August 2024 that a ban on undetectable HIV+ prospective service members was unconstitutional violating the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.
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