Why the Trump administration is after "Boots" The Netflix series, which addresses the theme of homosexuality within the Marines, has been heavily criticized by the White House

Recently, Netflix released Boots, a dramatic TV series starring a gay teenager (played by American actor Miles Heizer) who, in the 1990s, decides to enlist in the U.S. Army – an environment notoriously unwelcoming to gender minorities. The series was received fairly well by both audiences and specialized media, while the U.S. Department of Defense strongly criticized it. According to statements by the Pentagon spokesperson, Netflix produced Boots solely to continue pleasing the LGBTQ+ community; the series was later labeled “woke trash”: the term is increasingly used by the U.S. conservative movement to indicate what they consider a dangerous trend of the left, progressives, and more generally the Democrats — that is, an overly rigid and uncompromising attitude regarding gender issues and civil rights.

However, Boots – inspired by a true story – is fairly faithful to reality: the U.S. Army has historically been and still is a context notoriously hostile to gay people. Until the early 1990s, homosexuality in the Marines was considered, in all respects, a crime, and gay people were essentially forced to lie about their identity in order to enlist. In 1993, a controversial measure known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell” came into effect in the United States, allowing homosexual individuals to serve in the armed forces on the condition that they did not disclose their sexual orientation. It is estimated that, in this context, more than 13,000 gay soldiers were in some way forced to leave the military, with all the associated consequences, not only professional – the law was later repealed in 2010 by the Obama administration.

The U.S. Army and Inclusivity

Boots is based on the book The Pink Marine, a 2015 memoir by writer and screenwriter Greg Cope White, who, in 1979 – just after finishing high school – impulsively enlisted in the Marines along with his best friend. The series, composed of eight episodes, is set about ten years later, in a period when the condition of homosexual people was still largely unchanged. Production of Boots began before the pandemic but was delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood actors’ strike, releasing at a time when the U.S. administration had again become very tough on gender minorities, inside and outside the military. Specifically, Trump removed diversity and inclusion policies from military guidelines, refocusing on soldiers’ physical condition. In this context, the Department of Defense introduced a rule requiring transgender military personnel to leave service. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has never hidden his opposition to policies protecting the rights of gay personnel within the armed forces. Notably, he recently ordered the renaming of a U.S. Navy supply ship named after Harvey Milk, the famous LGBTQ+ rights activist.

But the Trump administration’s measures against gender minorities go far beyond the armed forces. Recently, the White House dismantled much of the government programs promoting inclusion, diversity, and equality. Trump also pressured the U.S. Attorney General to halt “D.E.I.” (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives in the private sector, over which the federal government has no direct control – leading some major companies, including Meta and McDonald’s, to discontinue their minority programs. Trump also ordered the end of several diversity measures within the government, such as the obligation to refer to trans individuals using the pronouns corresponding to their transitioned gender. The White House has formally declared that it will recognize only two genders, male and female, assigned regardless of how individuals identify themselves.