Published July, 2025
Wilkins v. Hegseth, Amicus Brief, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, CHLP et al. (July 16, 2025)
CHLP joined ACLU, NASTAD, SERO Project, Whitman-Walker, and Community Resource Initiative in filing this amicus brief in Wilkins v. Hegseth before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Wilkins v. Hegseth (formerly Wilkins v. Austin) is a lawsuit brought by Lambda Legal challenging the U.S. military’s policy of banning people living with HIV from enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. In August 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that the ban violated the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act. The Department of Defense appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, where the case is currently under appeal.
This brief in support of the plaintiff argues that the military’s continued ban on enlistment for people living with HIV is scientifically unfounded, discriminatory, and inconsistent with the DoD’s public health mission. The policy reinforces stigma and undermines national efforts to improve HIV outcomes and end the epidemic.
Kara N. Ingelhart of the LGBTQI+ Rights Clinic, Bluhm Legal Clinic, at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law authored the brief.
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