The U.S. Navy confirmed to Breitbart News on Wednesday that it used a drag queen influencer as one of its “digital ambassadors” to attempt to recruit “a wide range of potential candidates.”
The influencer is active-duty U.S. Navy Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, whose stage name is “Harpy Daniels.”
Kelley served as part of the Navy’s pilot ambassador program from October 2022 to March 2023 and has openly performed as a drag queen for awhile, but garnered broader public attention this week after a video of him circulated on social media.
Kelley announced in November 2022 in a video on his Instagram page that the Navy asked him to be their “first” “Navy Digital Ambassador.”
“I identify as Non- Binary and this has been an unbelievable experience since I’ve joined the Navy,” he wrote in a caption for the video.
“From joining to 2016 and being able to share my drag experience on my off time with my fellow sailors has been a blessing,” he continued. “This experience has brought me so much strength, courage and ambition to continue being an advocate and representation of queer sailors!”
He added: “Thank you to the Navy for giving me this opportunity! I don’t speak for the Navy but simply sharing my experience in the Navy! Hooyah, and let’s go Slay!”
Kelley said he first performed drag for fellow sailors during lip sync shows on a deployment in 2017 and 2018, and that video from the second show was released on “international platforms.”
Kelley on Tuesday responded to criticism from conservative podcaster Graham Allen: “Here you go for my rebuddle [sic].”
“Queer ppl were oppressed in the military for years only until 2011 and trans people since 2021. You only want to support the military when it benefits you and doesn’t involve queer people. Yet the military is the largest diverse, and adaptable organization in the use [sic].”
A Navy spokeswoman said in a statement:
The Navy Digital Ambassador Program was a pilot initiative designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates as the Navy navigates the most challenging recruiting environment it has faced since the start of the all-volunteer force.
“The pilot has concluded; we are evaluating the program and how it will exist in the future,” she added.
A Navy spokesperson told Fox News Digital the service did not pay YN2 Kelley or any others for being Navy Digital Ambassadors.
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