In an insane move to bolster recruitment numbers, the U.S. Navy has turned to a “drag queen influencer” in the hopes of attracting new enlistees.
Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, who performs under the stage name “Harpy Daniels,” announced in November 2022 that he had been named the Navy’s “Digital Ambassador.”
Boasting over 1.3 million likes on TikTok, Kelley is a popular social media figure.
Although Kelley’s Instagram bio clarifies that his opinions “are not endorsed by DoD or DoN,” he claims to have danced in drag for service officers on multiple occasions, even sharing a video from 2018.
The Navy’s Digital Ambassador initiative, which ran from October 2022 to March 2023, aimed to “explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates,” according to a Navy spokesperson who spoke with Fox News Digital.
This new approach comes as the Navy faces “the most challenging recruiting environment it has experienced since the start of the all-volunteer force.”
The spokesperson further noted that neither Kelley nor any other Navy Digital Ambassadors received compensation for their participation.
The pilot program has concluded, and the Navy is now evaluating its potential future role.
The push to engage younger audiences comes amid a historic recruitment crisis.
A survey conducted by the Ronald Reagan Institute revealed that a mere 13% of 18-29-year-olds are “highly willing” to join the military, with 25% “somewhat willing” and 26% “not willing at all.”
Kelley has also posted about his role as a “Digital Ambassador” for the Navy on Instagram, stating, “From joining in 2016 and being able to share my drag experience on my off time with my fellow sailors has been a blessing. This experience has brought me so much strength, courage, and ambition to continue being an advocate and representation of queer sailors!”
Expressing gratitude for the opportunity, Kelley emphasized that he doesn’t speak for the Navy but merely shares his personal experience within it.
The debate surrounding drag queens in the military is just one aspect of the broader struggle over gender ideology across all branches of the U.S. armed forces.
In March, nearly two dozen House Democrats introduced legislation aiming to prohibit the Department of Defense from discriminating against transgender individuals wishing to serve in the military.
Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), who proposed the bill, intends to prevent Republicans from reinstating former President Trump’s ban on enlisting those with gender dysphoria or who have undergone gender transitioning.
As vice chair of the Congressional Equity Caucus and co-chair of the Transgender Equality Taskforce, Jacobs argued, “Anyone willing and able to serve our country should be able to serve authentically.”
In contrast, some Republicans, such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), have introduced legislation seeking to bar transgender individuals from military service unless they meet specific requirements.
Criticizing the current administration, Rubio stated, “Biden has turned our military into a woke social experiment. It is a stupid way to go about protecting our nation. We need to spend more time thinking about how to counter threats like China, Russia, and North Korea and less time thinking about pronouns.”
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