As millions observe Pride Month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of pioneering gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
A Defense Department official confirmed that that the timing of the announcement – occurring during Pride month – was intentional.
The USNS Harvey Milk is a John Lewis-class oiler, a group of ships that are to be named after prominent civil rights leaders and activists. The oiler was named after Milk in 2016 and launched in 2021.
From ABC News:
Milk was one of the first openly gay men elected to public office in the United States after winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was assassinated a year later.
Before serving in public office, Milk in 1951 enlisted in the Navy and attended Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island.
He then was a Navy diving instructor in San Diego but resigned in 1955 “after being officially questioned about his sexual orientation,” according to the Harvey Milk Foundation.
Both his mother and his father also served in the U.S. Navy in World War I.
Hegseth just can’t stop being a douche. It’s who he is.
Hegseth has ordered that the USNS Harvey Milk, named for the gay rights icon, be renamed. Harvey Milk served as a diving officer and later as a diving instructor for four years in the U.S. Navy. That this would happen at the start of Pride is intentional.https://t.co/jgCZLEnBs4
— Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer) June 3, 2025
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