From The New York Times:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to review the names of vessels honoring prominent civil rights leaders, including Harvey Milk, who was one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials and a Navy veteran.
News of Mr. Hegseth’s decision, reported earlier by Military.com, comes just days into Pride Month, which celebrates the contributions of luminaries in the L.G.B.T.Q. community.
Of course it was.
This is what Military.com had to say:
A defense official confirmed that the Navy was making preparations to strip the ship of its name but noted that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered to do so by Hegseth. The official also said that the timing of the announcement -- occurring during Pride month -- was intentional.
Of course it was.
CBS reported Tuesday that the Navy is also considering renaming other John Lewis-class oilers including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman. Both Marshall and Ginsburg were Supreme Court justices, and Tubman was a Black abolitionist who helped slaves escape the South via the Underground Railroad.
Of course they're considering it. Of course.
CBS reported some background on what makes Harvey Milk such an important story:
Harvey Milk, the political trailblazer, emerged in the 1970s as one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States. After years of activism, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, where he quickly became a national symbol of LGBTQ+ political empowerment. His life was cut short in 1978 when he was assassinated in City Hall, alongside Mayor George Moscone.
The USNS Harvey Milk was christened in 2021 and represented a significant step toward inclusivity within the armed forces.
Before he emerged as one of the most visible advocates for gay rights in American history, Milk served in the U.S. Navy. From 1952 to 1954, he held posts as an operations and dive officer aboard two submarine rescue ships — the USS Chanticleer and the USS Kittiwake — both active during the Korean War, according to the U.S. National Archives.
But his sexual orientation carried profound consequences as Milk came under scrutiny. In December 1954, Milk, who was then a lieutenant junior grade, was facing a court martial for participating in a "homosexual act" a year earlier.
Instead of facing trial, Milk was drummed out of the U.S. military, like so many other gay service members of his era. In January 1954, he resigned his commission and accepted an "Other Than Honorable" discharge. In 2021, the Navy approached Milk's nephew, Stuart Milk, to see if he wanted his uncle's discharge upgraded, according to NPR. Stuart decided against it as a reminder that not everyone was treated with honor.
So of course they did this during Pride Month
