{"id":573102,"date":"2023-05-04T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T19:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/gop-senators-question-drag-queens-in-navy-outreach-effort\/"},"modified":"2023-05-04T22:49:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T19:49:00","slug":"gop-senators-question-drag-queens-in-navy-outreach-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/gop-senators-question-drag-queens-in-navy-outreach-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"#GOP senators question drag queens in Navy outreach effort"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/pentagon_012920gn_w.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Fourteen Republican senators are asking the U.S. Navy to respond to questions concerning reports that it used a TikTok drag queen to help reach potential recruits on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we understand the importance of social media for modern recruiting, we are concerned about both the promotion of a banned <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> and behavior that many deem inappropriate in a professional workplace,\u201d the senators wrote Wednesday in\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rubio.senate.gov\/public\/_cache\/files\/6afa49ce-8247-4c2d-9db4-ad037f35d9c0\/9DA66597D7064F0BA02EA67F1B88777F.budd-letter-to-secnav-re-digital-ambassador-program-2.pdf\">a letter addressed<\/a> to U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s letter was sent in response to\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2023\/05\/01\/us-navy-drag-queen-recruitment\/\">recent reporting from<\/a> conservative <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> site The Daily Caller that Joshua Kelley, a non-commissioned\u00a0naval officer and drag queen, was invited to participate in the Navy\u2019s \u201cDigital Ambassador\u201d pilot program last year to reach a broader audience amid recruitment challenges.<\/p>\n<p>The pilot program, \u201cdesigned to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates,\u201d according to The Daily Caller, ran from October to  March.<\/p>\n<p>Kelley, better known by their stage name Harpy Daniels,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/ClCNuWJjy-o\/\">announced their acceptance<\/a> to the program in a video posted to TikTok and Instagram in November.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom joining [in] 2016 and being able to share my drag experience on my off time with my fellow sailors has been a blessing,\u201d Kelley wrote of their time in the Navy in the video\u2019s Instagram caption. \u201cThis experience has brought me so much strength, courage and ambition to continue being an advocate and representation of queer sailors!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senators in Wednesday\u2019s letter wrote that while they understand the need to reach broadly across the eligible population to improve recruiting outcomes, \u201cwe question promotion of social media influencers who post behaviors or activities many Americans deem inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter references a passage in the Navy\u2019s 2019\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csp.navy.mil\/Portals\/2\/documents\/downloads\/navy-social-media-handbook-2019.pdf\">social media handbook<\/a>, which instructs\u00a0sailors to \u201cassume any content they post may affect their personal careers and the reputation of the Navy more broadly.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThis begs the question whether the Navy endorses the personal posts of its influencers and \u2018ambassadors,\u2019\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cIf so, does the Navy endorse drag shows?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere does the Navy draw the line on promotion of the personal activities of its influencers?\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cWould the Navy enlist burlesque or exotic dancers to reach possible recruits? Such activity is not appropriate for promotion in a professional workplace or the United States military.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senators in Wednesday\u2019s letter wrote that it is their \u201cresponsibility to conduct oversight and to determine potential legislative responses to the Navy\u2019s recruiting crisis and its Digital Ambassador program.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The letter asks for information related to the status of the pilot program, as well as the amount of federal funding\u00a0spent\u00a0on it and whether participants\u00a0were compensated or offered special incentives.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Senators\u00a0also question whether Navy Digital Ambassadors or public affairs officers have been using TikTok on their personal devices in order to get around a\u00a0congressionally mandated ban\u00a0of TikTok on\u00a0Defense\u00a0Department\u00a0devices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt a time when our nation\u2019s military is facing a recruiting crisis, it is as important as ever to reach broader swaths of the eligible population \u2014 but not at the cost of privacy, security, or professionalism,\u201d the senators wrote.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the Navy\u2019s Digital Ambassador pilot program was an outreach initiative, not a recruiting effort.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures across the country this year have targeted drag shows and performers with rhetoric characterizing them as being sexually explicit and inappropriate for young people. In\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=783315182996400\">a campaign ad<\/a>\u00a0last year, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), one of the signatories of Wednesday\u2019s letter to Del Toro, accused the \u201cradical left\u201d of indoctrinating children over footage of a drag queen story hour at a California library.<\/p>\n<p>Drag events across the country this year have faced increased protests and threats of violence, often by individuals affiliated with right-wing extremist groups such as the Proud Boys. At\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glaad.org\/blog\/anti-drag-report\">least 166 incidents<\/a>\u00a0of anti-LGBTQ protests and threats targeted against drag events have been recorded since early last year by GLAAD, a national LGBTQ media advocacy organization.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>In Ohio last month, a member of a pro-Nazi group was charged with arson after he threw Molotov cocktails at a church planning to host a drag event \u201cin an attempt to burn the church to the ground,\u201d\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/man-charged-arson-and-possession-destructive-device\">according to the Justice Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u00a0has also included a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights\">record-high amount of legislation<\/a> targeting drag shows and LGBTQ rights, with dozens of state bills introduced by Republican lawmakers seeking to crack down on performances.<\/p>\n<p>In March, Tennessee became the first state to\u00a0enact a law restricting drag shows, criminalizing certain performances that take place in public or where they could be seen by a minor. A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the law from taking effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/3988674-gop-senators-letter-navy-drag-queens-outreach-effort\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fourteen Republican senators are asking the U.S. Navy to respond to questions concerning reports that it used a TikTok drag queen to help reach potential recruits on social media. \u201cWhile we understand the importance of social media for modern recruiting, we are concerned about both the promotion of a banned app and behavior that many&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":573103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/pentagon_012920gn_w.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134417,134343,142910,137776,134661,90482,91187,76427,70289,134345],"class_list":["post-573102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-blog-briefing-room","tag-campaign","tag-carlos-del-toro","tag-drag-shows","tag-energy-environment","tag-house","tag-marco-rubio","tag-navy","tag-senate","tag-state-watch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}