The commandant of the Coast Guard is
speaking out against President Donald Trump's plan to bar transgender
people from serving in the military.
In a series of tweets last week, Trump
declared that the military will no longer “accept or allow”
transgender troops to serve “in any capacity.” The president
said that the ban was needed to avoid “tremendous medical costs and
disruption” posed by transgender people serving in the military.
Admiral Paul Zukunft made his comments
Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
according to Military.com.
Zukunft described his reaction to
Trump's tweets, saying that he had his office reach out to all 13
openly transgender Coast Guard members.
“I reached out personally to Lt.
Taylor Miller, who was featured on the cover of The Washington
Post last week," Zukunft said. "If you read that story,
Taylor's family has disowned her. Her family is the United States
Coast Guard. And I told Taylor, 'I will not turn my back. We have
made an investment in you, and you have made an investment in the
Coast Guard, and I will not break faith.'”
“That is the commitment to our people
right now,” he added. Very small numbers, but all of them are
doing meaningful Coast Guard work today.”
(Related: Dozens
of retired generals, admirals oppose Trump's ban on transgender
troops.)