Challenge to HIV restrictions in French armed forces goes before top court

The organisations bringing the case before the Council of State, including STOP Homophobie and SOS Racisme, point to “an excess of power” wielded by recruiters, who keep people with HIV out of certain posts.

In May 2023, France opened the army, gendarmerie and Paris and Marseille fire brigades to people living with HIV.

However, some positions – such as military pilots, those in commando units and some specialist firefighting jobs – remain off-limits because of medical assessments.

The armed forces, gendarmerie and fire service assess candidates' fitness using the Sigycop medical classification system, widely used in the French public sector.

People living with HIV are automatically unable to receive the highest rating in these tests “even if receiving treatment, asymptomatic and in perfect health”, Étienne Deshoulières, the lawyer bringing the case, said in a statement.

Stamping out misinformation in France's fight against HIV-Aids

The organisations are asking for medical fitness requirements to be overhauled, as they discriminate against “all people living with HIV without distinction”, said Deshoulières.

He said the medical assessment amounts to “HIV-related discrimination” – which he added is “indirectly homophobic and racist”.

Forty-two percent of people living with HIV are men who have sex with men, while 24 percent are from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the latest survey of people living with HIV by France's national agency for Emerging Infectious Diseases research. 

The organisations say they asked the Minister for the Armed Forces, as well as the Interior Minister, who oversees the police and the Health Ministry, to repeal the provisions in question on 30 June.

They brought the case to the Council of State after receiving no response.

(with AFP)