Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s Twitter proclamation that transgender troops would be banned from serving in the military “in any capacity,” a U.S. Coast Guard captain undergoing gender transition still believes that the country will accept her.
Capt. Jay Caputo has served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 26 year. Earlier this spring, she had her gender transition request approved by her superiors and started wearing a female uniform to work in July. Caputo said she received overwhelming encouragement from her shipmates who learned about gender transition in a training course prior to her telling them.
“My colleagues are so supportive at work. They have supported me in every way up and down the chain of command,” Caputo told CTV’s Your Morning on Wednesday, estimating there may be 12 other transgender people working in the U.S. Coast Guard.
When news of Trump’s planned ban on transgender people serving in the military became public, Caputo said she was immediately concerned.
“What I asked was, ‘How are the other 12 doing? How’s everybody doing?” Caputo recalled. “We get worried about our health care, but our personnel command has said really there’s no change to the policy right now.”
Since Trump’s announcement, however, Caputo says she hasn’t noticed any changes in her day-to-day experience at work.
“I know that I plan to continue to serve as long as they allow me to do so. I’ve done so faithfully for 26 years,” she said. “The opportunity to serve has been incredible.”
Caputo said she has been stationed all over the U.S. and she has always been welcomed in the diverse communities she’s lived in. Americans just need to come to grips with the fact that transgender people have a medical condition, she said.
“Once we accept that, I think America is going to accept that too,” Caputo said. “I think they’ll just accept transgender people as part of everyday life and things will get better for us.”
Transgender troops in the military just want to serve like everybody else, Caputo said.
“They just want to be valued for the skills and the expertise that they bring,” she said. “Please allow us to serve just like every other American who puts their hand up and says they’ll defend the constitution.”
