Air Force members ‘forced out’ of US military because of HIV status
US President Donald Trump is saluted by Air Force personnel. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty)
The US military discharged two Air Force members because of their HIV-positive status, according to a new lawsuit.
The suit was filed on Wednesday against Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson and the US Department of Defense.
The two servicemen argue that the decision to discharge them was based on their HIV-positive status and violates the US Constitution’s equal protection clause and federal law.
The Roe and Voe v. Mattis, et al. suit uses the aliases Richard Roe and Victor Voe to protect the medical privacy of the plaintiffs. The suit was filed by Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN with partner law firm Winston & Strawn.
During routine Air Force screenings last year, both men tested positive for HIV but were cleared by doctors as being fit for service.
Despite this, they claim they were notified in November that they would be dismissed from military service as they were unable to be deployed in the Middle East due to their HIV status.
“These decisions should be based on science, not stigma. Lambda Legal is suing to stop these separations and will not stop fighting until President Trump understands that there’s not a job in the world a person living with HIV cannot safely perform, including the job of a soldier.”
— Scott Schoettes
Under the Trump administration’s ‘Deploy or Get Out’ policy, service members can be dismissed from duty if they are unable to be deployed outside of the US for more than a year.
When the policy was unveiled in February, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters that the policy was about fairness, saying: “You’re either deployable, or you need to find something else to do.”
He added that “if you can’t go overseas [and] carry a combat load, then obviously someone else has got to go.”
President Trump (Paul Kitagaki Jr./Getty)
HIV-positive Air Force members were loyal servicemen
Both Air Force members served for more than half a decade, with roles in logistics and maintenance. They weren’t offered alternative roles, according to the suit.
Peter Perkowski, legal and policy director of OutServe-SLDN, argued that “there is simply no justification for this decision.”
“It’s disgusting that the Trump Administration is sending some men and women in uniform home for the holidays without jobs simply because of their HIV status,” said Scott Schoettes, counsel and HIV project director at Lambda Legal.
“These decisions should be based on science, not stigma. Lambda Legal is suing to stop these separations and will not stop fighting until President Trump understands that there’s not a job in the world a person living with HIV cannot safely perform, including the job of a soldier,” added Schoettes.
The lawsuit argues that the ‘Deploy or Get Out’ policy restricts opportunities of service members with HIV and is also used to justify the separation of service members solely based on their HIV status.
“Anyone willing to put their life on the line to defend our country deserves respect, not discrimination,” added OutServe-SLDN’s Perkowski.
“They have the support of their commanders and medical personnel, who state that having HIV will not affect their ability to do their jobs.”
Schoettes told the Washington Post: “What we’re really asking for here is that HIV is treated the same as any other medical condition in terms of evaluating whether or not you can deploy with it.”
