Coast Guard Chief Will Disregard Trump’s Ban on Transgenders in Military

The U.S. Coast Guard commandant has announced he will disregard President Donald Trump’s ban on transgenders in the military. Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, who took charge of the Coast Guard under former President Barack Obama, says he “will not break faith” with transgenders under his command. “The first thing we did is we reached out to all 13 members of the Coast Guard who have come out” as transgender, Zukunft said at an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, reports the Hill. In his comments, Zukunft referred to the Coast Guard’s first openly transitioning officer, Lt. Taylor Miller, who was featured in a Washington Post article about the effects of the ban on transgender members of the service. “I feel very unwanted,” Miller reportedly said. “Mortified and embarrassed.” “Most people my age are worried whether they’re going to get a date or what apartment they’re going to rent,” Miller, an engineer who inspects foreign and domestic commercial vessels, said, according to the Post. “I’m worried about how I’m going to cover the cost of my hormones, hide from everybody and not get beaten up and murdered in an alleyway.” Miller reportedly began transitioning in 2016