"Our enemies laugh at us": Navy recruiting video featuring drag queen Harpy Daniels sparks online backlash 

The US Navy has come under fire after appointing active-duty drag queen Harpy Daniels in a diversity drive to boost its sinking recruitment numbers. According to a survey done in 2022, only 13% of 18 to 29-year-old youth are willing to join the military.

Yeoman 2nd class Joshua Kelley, whose drag persona is Harpy Daniels, announced in November last year that they would be appointed as the US Navy's Digital Ambassador. This was reportedly done in a drive to attract the most diverse yet talented workforce and combat the plummeting recruitment.

Joshua, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, was hired as the first among four Digital Ambassadors in a pilot program that went on from October 2022 to March 2023. They shared their journey on both Instagram and TikTok while describing how they started performing onboard and quickly became an advocate for people who felt oppressed while serving in the military for years.

However, this news was not received with positive reactions from the netizens, especially the conservatives. Libs of TikTok shared a post about Harpy Daniels on their Twitter page and several netizens took to the comments section to express their views.

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Individuals criticize the US Navy for appointing a drag queen

Many spoke out in opposition to this bid for LGBTQIA+ inclusion by the military to showcase a broader range of candidates being recruited. The backlash sparked after Libs of TikTok posted about the news in a video on May 3.

A lot of people said that this initiative would only cater to the small population of the trans community and would not create an impact on the rest.

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Joshua Kelly speaks about life as a drag queen in the US Navy

Joshua Kelley spoke to Carl Herzog from the USS Constitution Museum in 2022 and mentioned that they had been performing in drag shows long before joining the Navy. In 2017 and 2018, Joshua performed as Harpy Daniels in a competition held for the crew while they were on deployment on the supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan.

Joshua told Herzog at the time:

“I started performing in drag in 2013. Drag had no influence with me joining. It was the Navy I feared that would’ve influenced me to stop doing drag.”

They added that drag had been an art, a passion, and a way of self-expression for them. Joshua further explained that life on a ship is difficult and high stress can bring low morale to the crew.

Joshua shared that their morale-boosting performance helped save someone's life.

They continued:

“This person was gay and felt lost and alone, ready to jump ship. But after getting to view my performance, they felt empowered to be themselves and see that our struggles and low morale are temporary.”

Joshua Kelley shared that the individual personally thanked them and said that they forgot what life was like for a while. The USN official stated that it was a struggle that they all had to deal with during their deployment and that they all have their reasons for losing themselves.

When Herzog asked Joshua about their plans both in the Navy and in the drag industry, they told the interviewer that they wished to continue working hard as a USN official and make it to first class. Joshua said that they wanted to become the first officer in their family.

As for drag, they hoped to continue performing and building safe spaces for individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community. Joshua Kelley also expressed their wish to make it to RuPaul’s Drag Race one day.