Top US Navy admiral Michael Gilday defends non-binary sailor amid some Republican criticism

CNN
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The U.S. Navy's top admiral on Tuesday passionately defended the nonbinary sailor amid some criticism from Republican lawmakers, saying he was “especially proud of this sailor.”

Sailor, LTJG Audrey Knutson, shared her story on Navy page on Instagram last week. In a short video, Knutson said they were proud to serve as nonbinary people, especially because their grandfather served in the Navy as a gay man during World War II. During a deployment last fall aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, Knutson said their highlight was reading a poem to the entire ship at an LGBTQ spoken word night. The Instagram video has received almost 17,000 likes.

Subsequently, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, tweeted part of the clip with the caption: “As China prepares for war, that's what our US Navy is focused on.” On Tuesday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, continued to criticize the video, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee that he has “a lot of problems with the video.”

But Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday defended the sailor, emphasizing that the commander's job is to build a combat team.

“I'll tell you why I'm especially proud of this sailor,” Gilday said at the hearing. “So her grandfather served in World War II and he was gay and he was ostracized by the very institution that she not only joined and is proud to be a part of, but she volunteered to serve on the Ford and she will probably serve again next month when the Ford goes back to sea.”

Gilday used female pronouns to refer to Knutson, but the Navy told CNN that the pronouns chosen by Knutson are non-binary.

“We're asking people from all over the country, from all walks of life, from all walks of life to join us,” Gilday said, “and then the commander's job is to create a cohesive combat team that will follow the law, and the law requires that we be able to conduct rapid and consistent operations at sea. The level of trust that the commander develops in this unit must be based on dignity and respect, and so… if that officer can to legally join the United States Navy, ready to serve and willing to take the same oath that you and I took at the risk of our lives, then I am proud to serve alongside them.”

Some Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have attacked the military for being too “woke,” arguing that it is one of the reasons why the Army recruits poorly, despite a recent Army poll showing that only 5% of potential recruits were concerned about being “woke.”

Last month, Republican Rep. Corey Mills and several others criticized the Defense Department for its diversity, equity and inclusion training at a House Armed Services Subcommittee hearing on military personnel. Mills said: “We have an absolute 150% chance of outpronouncing every one of our opponents, and China and Russia, I'm sure, are shaking about it.”

In response, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros said diversity and equal opportunity training had been part of the military for decades.

At another hearing in early March with top military leaders, Sgt. Army Maj. Michael Grinston stressed that the military's focus remains on combat lethality, even with additional training on diversity and inclusion.

“Basic training includes one hour of equal opportunity training and 92 hours of rifle training,” Grinston said at the time. “And if you go to [One Station Unit Training]there are 165 hours of rifle training and only one hour of equal opportunity training.”