HIV-positive Air Force, Navy servicemembers victorious in lawsuit

An Air Force cadet and a Navy midshipman have won their lawsuit after being denied promotions for being HIV-positive.

Former Navy midshipman Kevin Deese and former Air Force cadet John Doe (a pseudonym) filed the lawsuit against the Department of Defense in 2018 when they were denied commissions after graduating from their respective service academies simply because they are living with HIV.

The settlement, announced Monday, will see that the two are commissioned as officers "in recognition of the status and military careers they qualified for and earned years ago," according to a Lambda Legal press release.

“Joining my brave co-plaintiff in this case was, for me, about demonstrating the very leadership that inspired me to a military career. I follow the mantra of 2004 Naval Academy graduate Travis Manion — 'If not me, then who?'” Deese said in a statement. “Now, 10 years after my Naval Academy graduation, future midshipmen and cadets living with HIV will be able to commission with their classmates upon graduation. And I could not be more proud to finally be commissioning.”

The DoD announced policy changes in June, 2022 that rescinded some of the military’s former restrictions discriminating against service members living with HIV. Now, those who are asymptomatic with undetectable viral load “will have no restrictions applied to their deployment or to their ability to commission ... solely on the basis of their HIV-positive status.”

“We are gratified that our clients, who were denied officer commissions they had earned because of the U.S. military’s discriminatory policy of withholding career advancement opportunities from HIV-positive service members, will now be able to achieve their goals,” said Kara Ingelhart, senior attorney at Lambda Legal. “Service members living with HIV, once affected by an outdated, discriminatory policy, no longer face discharge, bans on commissioning, or bans on deployment simply because they are living with HIV.”