Appeals court clarifies that people living with HIV can join the military again

Just days after a federal appeals court revived a major challenge to the military's enlistment ban, the same court has clarified that qualified people living with HIV can once again join the armed forces while the case moves forward.In an order issued Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said that when it agreed last month to rehear Wilkins v. Hegseth, it also lifted a stay that had allowed the Pentagon to continue enforcing its ban on enlistment of people living with HIV. The clarification restores a lower court injunction that opened military service to recruits whose condition is well-managed.The development follows The Advocate's reporting last week that the Fourth Circuit had vacated a February panel decision upholding the military's HIV enlistment restrictions and agreed to rehear the case en banc before the full court. At the time, however, uncertainty persisted over whether the panel's stay remained in effect. Tuesday's order resolved that question.Related: Federal appeals court sides with Pentagon against science, reinstating U.S. military’s HIV enlistment banThe practical consequence is immediate: People living with HIV whose virus is suppressed to undetectable levels through medication — meaning they cannot sexually transmit HIV under the scientific principle known as U=U, or undetectable equals untransmittable — may once again enlist in any branch of the U.S. military while the appeal proceeds."This was unexpected but great news," attorney Peter Perkowski, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs on appeal, said in a statement to The Advocate. "On a regular basis, I hear from people with HIV who want to serve their country by joining the military, and that's now again a viable option."The lawsuit was filed in 2022 on behalf of three people denied military opportunities because of their HIV status and Minority Veterans of America, an advocacy organization representing veterans from underrepresented communities. The plainti