Lambda Legal<\/a> quickly issued a statement in support that said in conjunction with OutServe-SLDN<\/a>, and with the law firm Winston & Strawn, they filed a\u00a0lawsuit\u00a0<\/a>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,\u00a0Roe and Voe v. Mattis, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s disgusting that the Trump Administration is sending some men<\/a> and women<\/a> in uniform home for the holidays without jobs simply because of their HIV status,\u201d\u00a0said Scott Schoettes, Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal. \u201cThese decisions should be based on science, not stigma. Lambda Legal is suing to stop these separations and will keep fighting until President Trump understands that there\u2019s not a job in the world a person living with HIV cannot safely perform, including the job of soldier.\u201d<\/p>\n Lamda\u2019s statement explains that the lawsuit \u201cchallenges the Pentagon\u2019s discriminatory deployment policies, which prevent service members living with HIV from deploying outside the United States without a waiver. For years, these policies have restricted the opportunities of service members with HIV. Now these same deployment restrictions are being used to justify separating service members solely based on HIV status. The \u2018Deploy or Get Out\u2019 policy, unveiled by the Trump administration in February 2018, directs the Pentagon to identify service members 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 service members living with HIV as non-deployable, they face immediate discharge under this Trump policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo credit: Shutterstock<\/em><\/p>\n The post Trump Fires HIV-Positive Air Men Right Before Christmas<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n