{"id":1579868,"date":"2022-07-29T21:01:56","date_gmt":"2022-07-30T01:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1579868"},"modified":"2022-07-29T21:02:10","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T01:02:10","slug":"air-force-includes-drag-show-in-woke-diversity-festival-at-langley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/air-force-includes-drag-show-in-woke-diversity-festival-at-langley\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force Includes Drag Show In Woke \u2018Diversity\u2019 Festival At Langley"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fair-force-includes-drag-show-in-woke-diversity-festival-at-langley%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1579868&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/u-s-military\">U.S. military<\/a> is hosting a drag show at a family-friendly festival at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) at the end of July.<\/p>\n<p>JBLE is hosting its first ever \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei\">Diversity, Equity and Inclusion<\/a> Summer Festival\u201d on July 30, featuring a series of performances and speeches, including a poem on \u201cDiversity, Equity and Inclusion\u201d and a drag show by Joshua Kelley, who performs under the moniker Harpy Daniels.<\/p>\n<p>The festival was first proposed by the JBLE Breaking Barriers Alliance, a committee comprised of volunteer service members under the base\u2019s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. At least one top base official, Colonel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jble.af.mil\/About-Us\/Biographies\/Display\/Article\/2671251\/colonel-gregory-s-beaulieu\/\">Gregory Beaulieu<\/a>, the installation commander, signed off on the event and approved the use of military resources, a JBLE spokesman told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>The festival is advertised as a family-friendly event, including \u201cbouncy houses and face painting for the children,\u201d according to an event <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventcreate.com\/e\/jble-bba-summer-festival?fbclid=lwAR2Bgb-dYuaKy6JZ0Kv2icXxA0E2BFEek6NULC8Pok73Is5rWVOqhfqNfD0\">description<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JointBaseLangleyEustis\/posts\/pfbid0eaPHkFTRASvrY9NBJicFDEefRg6QwNDDDjikqVcYqdkU7nBDEzZKBfMneGSrDGGJl\">event<\/a>, which will feature performances by several cultural groups, is billed under the theme \u201cCelebrating Differences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have gained ground in the military in recent years, a development that critics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2021\/06\/the-problem-with-a-woke-military\/\">say<\/a> is gutting the unity, meritocracy, and mission readiness of the U.S. military. Rep. Mike Ghallager (R-WI), the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel, said in a February <a href=\"https:\/\/gallagher.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/gallagher-kirby-wrong-dod-does-have-wokeness-problems\">speech<\/a> that DEI initiatives are undermining the military\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDiversity may be a strength for America, but it cannot be an organizing principle for the Pentagon. Actual strength \u2014 physical strength, mental strength, and overall end strength \u2014 is our strength,\u201d he said. \u201cDEI initiatives risk sapping this strength. By co-opting the Woke Left\u2019s obsession with racial and gender diversity, the Pentagon\u2019s DEI evangelists are ironically stifling the very type of diversity that might improve military performance: intellectual diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Air Force created an Office of Diversity and Inclusion in January last year. In February of this year, Bishop Garrison, a senior advisor to the secretary of defense, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/2929658\/diversity-equity-inclusion-are-necessities-in-us-military\/\">called<\/a> DEI in the military a \u201cforce multiplier.\u201d Garrison argued that DEI programs aid the military in recruiting candidates from diverse backgrounds with skill sets that the military can take advantage of.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just something that has to be done because of some type of cultural ideology or culture wars that are going on \u2014 that\u2019s not the case at all. It is, again, not diversity for diversity\u2019s sake,\u201d Garrison said.<\/p>\n<p>The JBLE event\u2019s central theme is \u201ccelebrating differences,\u201d and its purpose is ensuring \u201cevery Airman, Soldier and civilian feels valued,\u201d JBLE told The Daily Wire in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe goal is to provide education and awareness, increase collaboration through outreach, and recognize the diverse composition of JBLE. The theme of the event is \u2018Celebrating Differences\u2019 and will feature a number of different performers, guest speakers, and information booths, including Tuskegee Airman, Asian Indians of Hampton, a hula routine, a drag performance, and many others,\u201d the JBLE statement said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll featured guests will be participating or performing as volunteers. The installation assisted by providing funding for logistical requirements, such as a tent, stage, tables and chairs, etc., as specifically authorized by DoD regulations and policies. JBLE leadership is committed to celebrating differences and cultivating an inclusive environment where every Airman, Soldier and civilian feels valued,\u201d it continued.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the public promotions, the festival was advertised to all who work at JBLE, civilian and military, through a mass email. A person who works at JBLE and received an invite to the festival was furious over the military-sponsored drag show for an event advertised for families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s burlesque, it\u2019s hyper-sexualized, it\u2019s not something appropriate for children,\u201d said the person, who requested to not be named over potential retaliation from base officials.<\/p>\n<p>Kelley, the drag performer scheduled to appear at JBLE, joined the Navy in 2016 in part because he needed a stable income to fund his drag hobby, he told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2018\/08\/30\/sailor-by-day-performer-by-night-meet-the-navys-drag-queen-harpy-daniels\/\">Navy Times<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoing drag allows me to embrace my feminine side and allows me to bring my diversity and creativity out. When I put on a face, it\u2019s a face of art and creativity, not just a face of make-up. To hear people cheer, laugh or cry, or even join in with you during a performance is an absolute thrill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kelley\u2019s professional Instagram <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/harpy_daniels\/\">page<\/a> features dozens of photos of him in drag, many of them heavily sexualized. Some of the photos show Kelley nude, though the photos themselves appear to not violate Instagram\u2019s nudity policies.<\/p>\n<p>Drag shows for children have become a lightning rod of public debate in recent months. Critics have denounced such shows and events as inappropriate and potentially criminal abuses of children. Such burlesque shows are typically heavily sexualized.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy over \u201cfamily friendly\u201d drag shows has inspired legal action in Florida. The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/desantis-makes-move-against-florida-bar-that-held-sexually-explicit-drag-shows-with-kids\">filed<\/a> a complaint on Tuesday against a Miami bar that hosted such an event. One video that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. military is hosting a drag show at a family-friendly festival at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) at the end of July. JBLE is hosting its first ever \u201cDiversity, Equity and Inclusion Summer Festival\u201d on July 30, featuring a series of performances and speeches, including a poem on \u201cDiversity, Equity and Inclusion\u201d and a drag &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1579892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1579868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1579868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1579892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1579868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1579868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1579868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}