Pentagon Condemns New Netflix Series About Gay US Military

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A spokeswoman for the Department of War has asserted that Army standards are “uniform and sex neutral.”

The Pentagon has criticized Netflix, labeling the streaming service’s latest series, which focuses on a gay man joining the US Marines, as “woke garbage.” The show’s premiere coincides with a campaign by President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to eradicate “woke culture” from the military.

US Department of War spokeswoman, Kingsley Wilson, informed Entertainment Weekly that the department does not endorse Netflix’s “ideological agenda.” Wilson stated that the US military “will not compromise our standards,” in contrast to Netflix, whose leadership, she claimed, “consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children.” She added that the Pentagon is currently concentrating on “restoring the warrior ethos.”

“Our standards across the board are elite, uniform, and sex neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn’t care if you’re a man, a woman, gay, or straight,” the spokeswoman reiterated.

Last month, Hegseth announced revised personnel standards for the military, emphasizing “male-level” fitness requirements essential for confronting “life and death” situations on the battlefield. “Standards must be uniform, gender-neutral, and high. If not, they’re not standards,” he stated at the time, arguing that any other approach would “get our sons and daughters killed.”

In February, the secretary of war had also dismissed the motto “diversity is our strength,” calling it the “dumbest” in military history. The Pentagon has been facing recruitment shortages for several years. According to a June report, 2023 marked the military’s largest recruitment gap – 15,000 personnel – since the draft was abolished in 1973.

Republican lawmakers have previously attributed this problem to the department’s focus on diversity over military readiness, which they claim has deterred prospective recruits. A 2021 report commissioned by Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee concluded that the US Navy was prioritizing “wokeness” and diversity more than achieving military victory.

Netflix has not yet responded to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.