![Air Force medical group celebrating Pride Month](https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/800px-673rd_Medical_Group_hosts_LGBT_observance_event_150619-F-WT808-217-1200x675.jpg)
In the latest attempt to “rainbow” the U.S. military, the Department of the Air Force has authorized its bases to hold celebrations “in honor of Pride Month.” The announcement came days after the Navy got busted for using a drag queen to recruit new sailors into service.
On May 3, the department issued a memo reaffirming the branch’s recognition of June as “Pride Month.” The memo also includes a provision that “empower[s]” Air Force installation commanders to “plan and conduct” so-called “appropriate activities” on bases to commemorate “rainbow” month.
“During this time, we celebrate the progress we have made towards inclusivity, commemorate the contributions of LGBTQ+ Americans, and recognize the obstacles they have faced and overcome along the way,” the memo reads.
While authorized only a few weeks ago, efforts to organize Air Force-sanctioned “Pride Month” celebrations are already underway. Most recently, the office of Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, obtained a flyer promoting LGBT-themed events at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. According to the flyer, base events will include a “‘Pride Game Night’ on June 10, a Unity in Diversity Color Run on June 16, and a panel discussion titled ‘Our History, Our time!’ on June 28th.”
“What’s next, rainbow uniforms during pride month?” Roy said. “The Air Force and Defense Department sanctions this ridiculous use of taxpayer dollars and then expects members of Congress who represent Americans who are livid about this stuff to green light an $800 billion plus DOD budget.”
The Texas congressman went on to suggest that House Republicans “pull support” from this year’s National Defense Authorization Act in order to “put a stop to these kinds of divisive – and frankly embarrassing — DOD events.”
This year’s commemoration isn’t the first time the Air Force has gone out of its way to appease leftists’ “rainbow everything” obsessions. In February, The Daily Caller reported the Air Force had hosted nearly 70 so-called “Pride celebrations” last year. Several high-ranking branch officials, including Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, attended these events. Brown, who is expected to be chosen as President Joe Biden’s new Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, previously indicated in November 2020 that “[a]t the higher level of the Air Force,” so-called “diversity” had moved “to the forefront of personnel decisions such as promotions and hiring.”
The issuance of the May 3 Air Force memo came several days after The Daily Caller separately revealed the U.S. Navy brought on Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley — an active-duty drag queen who goes by the stage name Harpy Daniels and identifies as non-binary — to be a “Navy Digital Ambassador.” The program, which ran from October 2022 to March 2023, was reportedly aimed at examining “the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates” for military recruitment.