WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename a ship bearing the name of a gay rights icon.
The oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk is named for one of the first openly gay elected officials in U.S. history. Milk, who served in the Navy during the Korean War, was serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when he was assassinated in 1978.
According to a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the purpose of the renaming is “alignment with president and SECDEF (secretary of defense) objectives and SECNAV (secretary of the Navy) priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture,”
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), the first openly gay person of color elected to the House of Representatives, said in a statement, “I am deeply disappointed to hear that the U.S. Navy plans to remove the name of prominent and influential gay rights leader and Navy veteran Harvey Milk from one its ships. As the first openly gay man to be elected to public service in California, Harvey Milk is a significant historical icon for the LGBTQ+ community and all Americans.
“This is part of a larger and disgraceful effort by the Trump Administration and the Pentagon to diminish the service of Americans who served their country, even when their country didn’t serve them.
“I rebuke this egregious attempt to rewrite the American narrative to exclude these patriotic veterans. As chairman of the Equality Caucus and ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I will continue to fight to ensure that the stories of all former servicemembers are not diminished, but celebrated and remembered.”