A top US Naval official laid into Republican lawmakers who insulted the service after a non-binarysailor read a poem on a ship.
Lt Audrey Knutson, who uses they / them pronouns, was featured on the US Navy's Instagram last week. The USS Gerald Ford sailor said they were proud to serve and were following in the footsteps of their grandfather, who was gay and served during World War II. They said a moment they were fond of was sharing a poem during an LGBTQ event on the ship.
The heartwarming bit of military propaganda also possessed all the right ingredients to tantalise conservatives looking to serve up the culture war.
Senator Marco Rubio tut-tutted the Sailor for spending their down time expressing themselves.
"While China prepares for war, this is what they have our US Navy focused on," he wrote on Twitter.
Mr Rubio has introduced legislation into the Senate that would ban individuals identifying as trans or with a history of gender dysphoria from enlisting.
US military members frequently invoke the phrase "hurry up and wait" when describing their time in the service. Long downtimes are a reality of military life.
Senator Tommy Tuberville, a retired football coach who was elected as a Republican US senator for Alabama in 2020, complained that he had "a lot of problems" with the video during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“I hope we train our officers to prioritize their sailors, not themselves,” he said. “Did it surprise you that a junior officer said the highlight of her deployment – her first, and the ship’s first – was about herself and her own achievement?”
The former coach's groundbreaking "there is no I in team" objection was rejected by Admiral Mike Gilday, the Chief of US Naval Operations, who expressed a bit more nuance in his understanding of team dynamics.
“I’ll tell you why I’m particularly proud of this sailor,” the admiral responded. “Her grandfather served during World War II, and he was gay, and he was ostracized in the very institution that she not only joined and is proud to be a part of, but she volunteered to deploy on Ford. And she’ll likely deploy again next month when Ford goes back to sea.”
He continued telling Mr Tuberville that "we ask people from all over the country, from all walks of life, from all different backgrounds to join us, and then it's the job of a commanding officer to build a cohesive war-fighting team."
"That little trust that a commanding officer develops across that unit has to be grounded on dignity and respect," he said. “And so, if that officer can lawfully join the United States Navy, is willing to serve, and willing to take the same oath that you and I took to put their life on the line, then I’m proud to serve beside them.”
Mr Tuberville then complained that "recruiting is suffering" and said "we don't need to have another Bud Light moment."
That was a reference to the apoplectic reaction conservatives had to a Bud Light March Madness sponsored ad in which trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney was given her own, limited-edition can.
Mr Tuberville was a co-sponsor on Mr Rubio's bill aiming to ban trans people from the military.
