Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN client Nick Harrison.
Today, Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN, with partner law firm Winston & Strawn, filed a lawsuit on behalf of two HIV-positive members of the United States Air Force who were given discharge orders just days before the holiday season. Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed the lawsuit, Roe and Voe v. Mattis, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The lawsuit challenges the Pentagon's discriminatory deployment policies, which prevent servicemembers living with HIV from deploying outside the United States without a waiver. For years, these policies have restricted the opportunities of servicemembers with HIV. Now these same deployment restrictions are being used to justify separating servicemembers solely based on HIV status.
The "Deploy or Get Out" policy, unveiled by the Trump administration in February 2018, directs the Pentagon to identify servicemembers who cannot be deployed to military posts outside of the United States for more than 12 consecutive months and to separate them from military service. Since current U.S. military policy identifies servicemembers living with HIV as non-deployable, they face immediate discharge under this Trump policy.
OutServe-SLDN is also an organizational plaintiff in this case to advance the interests of its members who are living with HIV and serving in the military. Along with Harrison v. Mattis and Deese and Doe v. Mattis, this is the third lawsuit that Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN have brought to challenge military policies that discriminate against people living with HIV.
The case is entitled Roe and Voe v. Mattis, et al. Joining Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN on the legal team are attorneys from Winston & Strawn LLP, serving as pro bono counsel.
See Also: Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments, HIV, Military, Virginia, Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments, HIV, Military, Roe and Voe v. Shanahan, et al.