USNS Harvey Milk

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming the USNS Harvey Milk, an underway replenishment oiler, named after the late gay rights leader. The Pentagon is also reviewing changing the names of ships named after Black and Hispanic civil rights leaders and prominent women, officials say.

“Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities, our nation’s history, and the warrior ethos,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.”

Raised in a Navy family, Harvey Milk joined the US Navy in 1951 during the Korean War. He served aboard the submarine rescue ship USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) as a diving officer. He was later transferred to San Diego to serve as a diving instructor. Then, in 1955, he was forced to resign from the Navy for being a homosexual. He held the rank of lieutenant, junior grade.

Milk would go on to become the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, where he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.  On November 27, 1978, Supervisor Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by an ex-supervisor. When Milk was shot, he was wearing his U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle.

NPR reports that the other ships under review include: The USNS Thurgood Marshall, named after the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court, the USNS Ruth Bader Ginsberg, named after the late Supreme Court Justice, the USNS Harriet Tubman, named for the woman who helped slaves escape to freedom in the 19th century, the USNS Dolores Huerta and USNS Cesar Chavez, both Hispanic labor leaders, the USNS Lucy Stone, a 19th-century suffragette, and the USNS Medgar Evers, the assassinated 1960s civil rights leader. These are John Lewis-class ships, meant to be named after civil rights leaders and activist icons. The lead ship in the group is named after the noted American politician and civil rights leader. Most of the ships under consideration to be renamed are still under construction.

The Navy is still recovering from decades-long corruption scandals, as well as recent ship collisions attributed to training deficiencies. Navy shipbuilding practices have resulted in ships being delivered years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. The Navy has also had a hard time recruiting sailors for naval vessels, as well as civilian mariners working for the Military Sealift Command.

Given the number of serious challenges facing the US military and the Navy in particular, it is telling that bigotry remains such a significant priority to this administration. The timing of the announcement, during Pride Month, reports Military.com, was intentional — a punitive and mean-spirited slight at the estimated 80,000 LGBTQ+ service members in the U.S. military.

MSNBC columnist, Michael A. Cohen notes that the Pentagon … under the leadership of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, is marking Pride Month by offering a one-finger salute to the LGBTQ community. It’s part of a larger effort to whitewash the accomplishments and, arguably, the humanity, of women and minorities in the U.S. military.

Secretary Hegseth is an ex-Fox News host, notable for a record of public drunkenness, sexual harassment, and financial mismanagement. 

Hegseth also has tattoos that are associated with white nationalism and has a history of making Islamophobic statements. In January 2021, Hegseth was one of 12 national guardsmen flagged as potential insider threats and removed from a group providing security for the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, after a fellow Guard member reported he had a tattoo on his biceps reading “Deus Vult,” a phrase associated with the Crusades and, in the 21 st century, with white supremacists. 

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.