Caving to pressure for a pending lawsuit, the State Department has changed its rules to allow HIV-positive individuals to become U.S. diplomats. The lawsuit, filed by an HIV-positive man, claimed that he was denied entry into the foreign service despite being qualified.

The Associated Press reports that potential diplomats with HIV will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet the “worldwide availability” standard.

The article states:

Officials denied that the policy had ever intentionally discriminated against HIV-positive people and noted that the policy had applied only to incoming diplomats, not those who had contracted the virus or other diseases while in the foreign service.

“We have a policy requiring that all foreign service officers be worldwide available as determined by a medical examination at the time of entry into the foreign service,” said Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman. “That has not changed.”

The department’s chief medical officer had “revised its medical clearance guidelines on HIV based on advances in HIV care and treatment and consultations with medical experts,” Gallegos said. “The new clearance guidelines provide that HIV-positive individuals may be deemed worldwide available if certain medical conditions are met.”

Lambda Legal celebrated the decision.

“The new guidelines mean that candidates for Foreign Service posts who have HIV will now be assessed on a case-by-case basis, as the law requires,” said Bebe Anderson, the organization’s HIV project director. “At long last, the State Department is taking down its sign that read, ‘People with HIV need not apply.’”