Hegseth orders name change – during Pride month – for Navy ship honoring gay rights icon Harvey Milk

A ship named for the late Harvey Milk was christened and launched at NASSCO in San Diego four years ago File photo by Chris Stone Times of San Diego Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk a highly rare move that will strip the ship of the moniker of a slain gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War U S representatives say Navy Secretary John Phelan put together a small association to rename the replenishment oiler built at San Diego s General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard A new name is expected this month The leaders who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations revealed the next name had not yet been chosen The change was laid out in an internal memo that representatives reported defended the action as a move to align with President Donald Trump and Hegseth s objectives to re-establish the warrior heritage It marks the latest move by Hegseth and the wider Trump administration to purge all programs policies books and social media mentions of references to diversity equity and inclusion And it comes during Pride Month the same timing as the Pentagon s campaign to force transgender troops out of the U S military The decision was first shared by Military com Phelan s office did not respond to a request for comment Harvey Milk served his country He was stationed in San Diego Stripping his name from a Navy ship is a slap in the face to LGBTQ provision members We must continue to advocate and fight for the respect and dignity they deserve https t co x skjIBWOX Toni G Atkins toniatkins June The USNS Harvey Milk was named in by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus who declared at the time that the John Lewis-class of oilers would be named after leaders who fought for civil and human rights Milk who was portrayed by Sean Penn in an Oscar-winning movie served for four years in the Navy before he was forced out for being gay He later became one of the first openly gay candidates elected to population office Milk served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and had sponsored a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in community accommodations housing and employment It passed and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone signed it into law Our military is the the greater part powerful in the world but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national precaution or the warrior ethos It is a shameful vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down restrictions for all to chase the American Dream https t co Dc Q cut r Nancy Pelosi SpeakerPelosi June On Nov Milk and Moscone were assassinated by Dan White a disgruntled former city supervisor who cast the sole vote against Milk s bill The ship was christened in at NASSCO and during the ceremony then-Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced he demanded to be at the event not just to amend the wrongs of the past but to give inspiration to all of our LGBTQ society leaders who served in the Navy in uniform this day and in the civilian workforce as well too and to tell them that we re committed to them in the future The ship is operated by Military Sealift Command with a crew of about civilian mariners The Navy says it conducted its first resupply mission at sea in fall while operating in the Virginia Capes It continued to resupply Navy ships at sea off the East Coast until it began scheduled maintenance at Alabama Shipyard in Mobile Alabama earlier this year California personnel reacted angrily to the DOD announcement Rep Nancy Pelosi posted on X that Our military is the preponderance powerful in the world but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national safety or the warrior ethos San Diego s Toni Atkins a former state legislator and current gubernatorial candidate also on X commented Harvey Milk served his country He was stationed in San Diego Stripping his name from a Navy ship is a slap in the face to LGBTQ utility members While the renaming is rare the Biden administration also changed the names of two Navy ships in as part of the effort to remove Confederate names from U S military installations The USS Chancellorsville named for the Civil War battle was renamed the USS Robert Smalls after a sailor and former enslaved person And the USNS Maury an oceanographic survey ship originally named after a Confederate sailor was renamed the USNS Marie Tharp after a geologist and oceanographic cartographer who created the first scientific maps of the Atlantic Ocean floor Maritime lore hints as to why renaming ships is so uncommon suggesting that changing a name is bad luck and tempts retribution from the sea gods In General Dynamics NASSCO was awarded the contract by the U S Navy for the detailed design and construction of the next generation of fleet oilers the John Lewis-class T-AO