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Pentagon scraps rule barring HIV-infected service members from being promoted to leadership positions

2022-06-09T13:07:23.824Z


Regulations from the 1980s also limited infected people from being deployed on missions abroad. The change was celebrated by LGBTQ rights groups, but some restrictions remain.


By Zachary Schermele -

NBC News

The Department of Defense has officially ended a policy put in place in the 1980s that prevented HIV-positive service members from deploying to overseas missions and being promoted to leadership and management positions.

The new guideline went into effect Monday, according to a memo to military leaders from the office of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The previous policy that was in place for several decades had been overturned by a judge in early April.

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema of Eastern Virginia ruled at the time that the Pentagon's classification of HIV as a chronic condition did not reflect modern scientific understanding of the virus.

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In one of two rulings, Brinkema prohibited the Pentagon from “separating or discharging” asymptomatic HIV-positive service members with undetectable viral loads, solely because they have HIV.

The two cases involved three men who sued the Army for discrimination due to their HIV status.

One of the plaintiffs, Sgt.

Nick Harrison, who was denied a promotion because of his HIV-positive status, called the new Pentagon policy an "overall positive development" but said it came only after activists "kicked and screamed" in the judicial system to defend their rights.

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"I would like to see them go further," he said.

“At this point, the decision is basically to do what the judge told them to do.

So there's a lot more room for them to do more things."

Kara Ingelhart, a senior attorney at Lambda Legal, which represented the plaintiffs, said the move "makes perfect sense, from a medical-scientific stigma standpoint, but also from a public policy standpoint."

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“The fact that the military, [which] is the largest employer in the world, not just in the country, will no longer be able to categorically treat service members living with HIV differently than others is huge,” he added.

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, no employer other than the US military is permitted to discriminate against prospective employees because of having HIV.

But as noted in Monday's memo,

the amendment does not change current Pentagon policy that denies people with HIV the ability to enlist in the military.

According to the memo, those who are already service members and show "laboratory evidence" of HIV infection will continue to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, including access to "appropriate treatment" and a "medical assessment of fitness to continue" service. the same way as a service member with other chronic or degenerative illnesses.”

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However, they will not be discharged solely based on their HIV status.

Military leaders will convene a task force to "develop standards" for case-by-case evaluations that will consider how long service members must have an undetectable viral load and be symptom-free, the memo says.

The

Human Rights Campaign

, the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy group, has long called for a reversal of the policy, which was among the 85 recommendations the group sent to the Biden administration when assumed power in November 2020.

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"Research has shown for years that antiretroviral therapy is highly effective in reducing the risk of HIV transmission to virtually zero

," David Stacy, the campaign's director of government affairs, said in a news release.

“Maintaining a discriminatory policy against service members living with HIV without the support of medical evidence was untenable, and we are pleased to see our military leaders acknowledge this.”

Stacy added that the group will continue to "push for the same policy to be applied to those who want to enlist."

"This week's announcement was a good first step, but as long as some people continue to be discriminated against for no good reason, there is still work to be done," he said.



Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-06-09

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