HIV Positive Service Program

For three decades, Modern Military’s predecessor, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) was at the forefront of supporting the right to serve for servicemembers living with HIV. SLDN’s work included:

Advocating for changes to military policy and practice that affect LGBT[Q+] and HIV+ servicemembers.
Providing zealous legal advocacy for service members harmed by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” servicemembers living with HIV, and transgender military personnel.
Supporting transgender and HIV+ servicemembers who faced additional medical regulations that were difficult to navigate or who were being discharged without medical benefits.

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Modern Military's Advocacy Agenda: Codifying HIV Positive Service and Access to PrEP

Modern Military’s previous advocacy stance prioritized supporting the creation and passage of a law to allow service members living with HIV the ability to serve their country without arbitrary restrictions on their assignments and ability to deploy. In April 2022, a federal court ruled that the DoD could no longer discriminate against servicemembers living with HIV and must allow them to deploy and commission as officers; Modern Military, alongside Lambda Legal, filed the Roe and Voe v. Austin and Harrison v. Austin.

With the policy change, we remain vigilant in ensuring that the policy is implemented without restrictions on assignment and that people living with HIV are included on units that are eligible for deployment so that they are not denied opportunities, career milestones, promotions, or recognition. While the lawsuit ended the era of automatic non-deployability for people living with HIV, it still gives command leadership the ability to approve deployability status and prohibit consideration for some assignments which lends itself to potential implicit bias or discrimination.

Modern Military asks the DoD to change U.S. Military policy to allow people living with HIV to enlist or be appointed to the Armed Forces.
- MMAA actively supports Lambda Legal and Minority Veterans of America lawsuit on behalf of three plaintiffs who were denied enlistment based on their HIV status.
Modern Military asks the DoD to ensure the continued implementation of an optimal HIV PrEP program to reduce PrEP accessibility barriers amongst deployed service members.
- Currently the Navy and Marine Corps Sexual Health and Responsibility Program (SHARP) promotes PrEP prescriptions, however Sailors and Marines have experienced localized differences in the ability to access PrEP with servicemembers on larger bases, near urban areas, or with infectious disease specialists having an easier time accessing PrEP.
- The Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard do not have a service-wide HIV prevention program that includes PrEP. Soldiers, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen need to speak to their medical providers or seek an off-base medical provider which makes PrEP difficult to obtain.

The Realities Facing Service Members Living with HIV

Between January 2017 and June 2022, DoD’s Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division estimated that 1,581 servicemembers were newly diagnosed with HIV. Of those servicemembers, 981 (62%) still served in the military in 2022.

In June 2022, the DoD affirmed its policies that:

Prohibit individuals living with HIV from entering military service.
Retain servicemembers living with HIV if they are “fit for duty.”
Consider currently serving individuals with HIV for officer accession or commissioning programs on a “case by case basis.”

Despite the policy changes, PLWHIV in the military still face monumental barriers to advancement and large-scale discrimination. There is still a social and cultural stigma associated with HIV following the 1980s AIDS epidemic that targets the LGBTQ+ community.