Joshua Kelley | |
---|---|
Born | Joshua J. Kelley 1993/1994(age 30–31) |
Other names | Harpy Daniels |
Occupations |
|
Military career | |
Branch | United States Navy |
Years | 2016–present (8.6 years) |
Rank | Petty officer second class |
Unit | |
Known for | Drag performing |
Joshua J. Kelley (born 1993/1994) is a drag queen and United States Navy sailor.
Joshua J. Kelley was born in 1993or1994 as one of two twin boys, and grew up in Berwick, Pennsylvania. [1] In 2018, their father was a Navy counselor, a senior chief petty officer with 24 years military service. [2]
A fan of RuPaul's Drag Race in their teens, Kelley began pursuing drag as their passion after seeing a drag show at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 2013. Kelley's drag persona is named Harpy Daniels (named for their favorite animal, the harpy eagle), [1] who was named Miss Gay Harrisburg's pageant queen in 2015. [2] In 2020, Kelley identified as a gay man, [3] but was reportedly identifying as non-binary by 2023. [4] [5]
Kelley joined the United States Navy in February 2016 for the financial stability afforded by the military. [2] They became a yeoman. Their first assignment was with VFA-115 [3] aboard USS Ronald Reagan, with a stint in Yokosuka, Japan. [6] As of June 2020 [update] , they were stationed at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division as a petty officer second class. [3]
In their first two years, they were named VFA-115's Blue Jacket of the Year and voted their president for Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions; they became the public affairs officer for Reagan's Gay, Lesbian and Supporting Sailors; and received their first Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. They also perform as Harpy Daniels while serving in the Navy: Morale, Welfare and Recreation has sponsored Daniels performances, and they won second place in a 2017 lip sync competition, earning a Navy Exchange gift card for US$1,000(equivalent to $1,243 in 2023). [2]
Despite the US military's spotty history with LGBT members (e.g. don't ask, don't tell), Kelley said in 2018 that—in their experience—all that mattered was whether a sailor could go their job: "that's what it comes down to in the Navy. No one tells me I'm too feminine. I've not once had a bad experience as a gay man in the military". [6]
When, from October 2022 to March 2023, the Navy piloted a program "designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates" in an effort to recruit more sailors, [7] YN2 Kelley was one of five active sailors named a digital ambassador; [8] they used their inclusive platform to promote their positive experiences in the Navy as an LGBT enlistee and drag queen. [7]
This begs the question whether the Navy endorses the personal posts of its influencers and 'ambassadors.' If so, does the Navy endorse drag shows? Where does the Navy draw the line on promotion of the personal activities of its influencers? Would the Navy enlist burlesque dancers or exotic dancers to reach possible recruits? [...] Such activity is not appropriate for promotion in a professional workplace or the United States military.
Two months after the program ended, right-wing extremists —including Libs of TikTok and Dear America Podcast—learned of Kelley's inclusion and began publishing abusive material about and directed at the active-duty sailor. [4] Robert J. O'Neill, a former Navy SEAL, criticized the Navy's alleged unreadiness to combat China because of Kelley's participation in the program, saying, "I can't believe I fought for this bullshit." [9] Contemporaneously, a group of Republican senators (including Marco Rubio) wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, and requested he justify why the Navy partnered with Kelley, whom they alleged "promoted the use of Chinese-owned social media and inappropriately represented the service [with] behaviors and activities many Americans deem inappropriate." [8]
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people. Instituted during the Clinton administration, the policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December 21, 1993, and was in effect from February 28, 1994, until September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by Public Law 103–160, which was signed November 30, 1993. The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability".
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have been a part of gay culture.
Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.
The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are a series of American supersonic twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft derived from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, in service with the armed forces of the U.S., Australia, and Kuwait. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced versions of the F/A-18C and D Hornet, respectively.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel are able to serve in the armed forces of some countries around the world: the vast majority of industrialized, Western countries including some South American countries, such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile in addition to other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Mexico, France, Finland, Denmark and Israel. The rights concerning intersex people are more vague.
Sylvia Rivera was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist who was also a noted community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag queen for most of her life and later as a transgender person, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front.
Yeoman (F) was an enlisted rate for women in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War I. The first Yeoman (F) was Loretta Perfectus Walsh. At the time, the women were popularly referred to as "yeomanettes" or even "yeowomen", although the official designation was Yeoman (F).
Many women have served in the United States Navy for over a century. As of 2020, there were 69,629 total women on active duty in the US Navy, with 11,076 serving as officers, and 58,553 enlisted. Of all the branches in the US military, the Navy has the second highest percentage of female active duty service members with women making up 20% of the US Navy in 2020.
OUTtv is a Canadian English language specialty channel and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. The brand focuses on general entertainment and lifestyle programming serving Canadian and international LGBT+ communities.
The yeoman rate is one of the oldest rates in the U.S. Navy, dating back to 1794. Historically, the Navy yeomen were responsible for keeping the storerooms for the ship's gunners, carpenters and boatswains. With the transition from sail to steam, yeomen were assigned to the ship's engineers. In the modern Navy, a yeoman is an enlisted service member who performs administrative and clerical work.
Gay and lesbian citizens have been allowed to serve openly in His Majesty's Armed Forces since 2000. The United Kingdom's policy is to allow lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel to serve openly, and discrimination on a sexual orientation basis is forbidden. It is also forbidden for someone to pressure LGBT people to come out. All personnel are subject to the same rules against sexual harassment, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
The U.S. state of Illinois has an active LGBT history, centered on its largest city Chicago, where by the 1920s a gay village had emerged in the Old Town district. Chicago was also the base for the short-lived Society for Human Rights, an early LGBT rights advocacy organization (1924).
Jase Daniels is a United States Navy linguist who was discharged from the military twice under the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). Daniels served from 2001 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007. After coming out in Stars and Stripes, a newspaper published under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Defense, Daniels challenged the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that forbade gay and lesbian service members from serving openly. His case attracted attention in such major U.S. media outlets as Newsweek and the New York Times. Daniels returned to active duty in the United States Navy on December 12, 2011, and is believed to be one of the first servicemembers, and perhaps the first, to return to active duty following the end of restrictions on service by openly gay and lesbian servicemembers in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Robert J. O'Neill is a former United States Navy SEAL (1996–2012), TV news contributor, and author. After participating in May 2011's Operation Neptune Spear with SEAL Team Six, O'Neill was the subject of controversy for claiming to be the sole individual to kill Osama bin Laden.
The African-American LGBT community, otherwise referred to as the Black American LGBT community, is part of the overall LGBTQ culture and overall African-American culture. The initialism LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.
In the past most lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel had major restrictions placed on them in terms of service in the United States military. As of 2010 sexual orientation and gender identity in the United States military varies greatly as the United States Armed Forces have become increasingly openly diverse in the regards of LGBTQ people and acceptance towards them.
Craig Jones is a former Royal Navy Officer and LGBT rights defender in the UK armed forces. Jones was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 New Years Honours List for services to Equality and Human Rights in the Armed Forces.
The notion that LGBTQ people, or those supportive of LGBTQ rights, are engaging in child grooming and enabling child sexual abuse is a far-right conspiracy theory and anti-LGBTQ trope. Although the belief that LGBTQ individuals are more likely to molest children has no basis in fact, this stereotype has existed for decades in the U.S. and Europe, going back to before World War II.
Joshua Kelley, 24, performs drag for his fellow Navy sailors while also fulfilling the role of his squadron's administrative supervisor by day.
Only 13% of 18 to 29-year-olds are 'highly willing' to join the military, according to a 2022 survey