According to emails received through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Functional Government Initiative, two Navy officers expressed disappointment with the unfavorable public response to its social media posts for LGBTQ+ Pride Month in 2017.
Navy officials labeled critics of their promotion of LGBTQ+ Pride as “bigots” and “a**holes.”
Two officials plotted how to effectively release their rainbow graphics in honor of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, despite their concerns that it would be inundated with negative feedback. They considered turning off comments on social media posts, citing a lack of “emotional energy” to deal with “rude a**holes.”
The unnamed Navy assistant head of information advised deleting posts so that the “righteousness” of LGBTQ+ might be promoted with the aid of people who solely agreed with his worldview.
The official voiced his displeasure at the “bigots”‘ increased online popularity at the expense of the Navy.
In a subsequent email concerning selecting a Pride Month profile photo for social media, the assistant chief of information seemed to imply disagreement from the Navy’s recruitment arm, CRUITCOM. The official then contemplated whether or not to get approval from CRUITCOM to utilize a profile picture he had picked out to drum up recruitment.
According to Functional Government Initiative’s director of communications, Pete McGinnis, the records demonstrate that the Navy prioritizes politics over its faltering recruitment attempts.
The service branch revealed earlier this month that the Navy employed a drag queen to aid in recruitment. Second Class Yeoman, in November of 2022, Joshua Kelley, better known as “Harpy Daniels” onstage, will reveal his new role as “Digital Ambassador” for the Navy. Kelley claims that since 2018, he has danced for midshipmen on many occasions.
But others have complained that this face of ambassadorship will deter recruitment and only attract a subset of men looking to be in “close quarters with other men.”
At this point, one has to wonder what the Navy’s pronouns are.
“We/Don’t/Care”?
