Korean War veteran Harvey Milk’s name to be erased from vessel during Pride Month in ‘intentional’ timing as defense chief targets ships named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriet Tubman and Thurgood Marshall
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the US Navy to strip the name of slain gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk from a military vessel in what officials admit is a deliberately timed Pride Month provocation – with other civil rights icons potentially next on the chopping block.
The USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet replenishment oiler named after the Korean War veteran who became one of America’s first openly gay elected officials before his assassination, will be renamed as part of what Pentagon officials describe as a drive to “reestablish the warrior culture.”
In a move that has sparked fury from Democrats and LGBTQ advocates, the timing of the announcement during Pride Month was “intentional,” according to a defense official who spoke to ABC News.
CBS News has learned that the Navy is also considering stripping names from multiple other vessels honoring civil rights leaders, including ships named after Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Thurgood Marshall, as well as abolitionist hero Harriet Tubman.
THE PRIDE MONTH PURGE
The order, laid out in an internal Pentagon memo reviewed by Military.com, directs Navy Secretary John Phelan to orchestrate the name change with rollout plans already in motion.
The memo justifies the extraordinary move as necessary for “alignment with president and SECDEF [secretary of defense] objectives and SECNAV [secretary of the Navy] priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the direction of travel, stating: “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.
He added ominously: “Any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.”
MILK’S MILITARY SERVICE DISHONORED
Harvey Milk served with distinction in the US Navy from 1951 to 1955, commissioned as an officer after attending Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island. He served as a diving officer on the submarine rescue ship USS Kittiwake during the Korean War, with his commander calling him “outstanding.
But in 1955, after being officially questioned about his sexual orientation – following supervisors catching him at a park popular with gay men in San Diego – Milk was forced to resign with a “less than honorable” discharge as a lieutenant junior grade.
The ship bearing his name was christened in 2021, with then-Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro saying he wanted to “not just to amend the wrongs of the past, but to give inspiration to all of our LGBTQ community leaders who served in the Navy.”
Now, just four years later, that inspiration is being erased.
CIVIL RIGHTS FLEET UNDER THREAT
The USNS Harvey Milk is part of the John Lewis class of oilers – a fleet of vessels named after prominent civil rights leaders and activists. According to CBS News sources, multiple ships in this class are now under review for renaming:
- USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Named after the late Supreme Court justice and women’s rights champion
- USNS Thurgood Marshall – Honoring the first Black Supreme Court justice
- USNS Harriet Tubman – Celebrating the Underground Railroad conductor who helped slaves escape
- USNS Earl Warren – Named after the Chief Justice who presided over Brown v. Board of Education
- USNS Robert F. Kennedy – Honoring the slain civil rights advocate and attorney general
- USNS Lucy Stone – Recognizing the suffragist and abolitionist
- USNS Sojourner Truth – Named after the escaped slave who became an abolitionist
HEGSETH’S CULTURE WAR ESCALATES
The controversial Pentagon chief – who survived a bruising confirmation battle amid allegations of sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse – has made eliminating “woke” policies his signature priority.
Following his confirmation in January, Hegseth issued a directive titled “Identity Months Dead at DoD,” banning the military from recognizing Women’s History Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and Black History Month.
He has already reversed Biden-era base renamings, restoring Confederate-linked names to Fort Liberty (now Fort Bragg) and Fort Moore (now Fort Benning), though claiming they honor different historical figures with the same surnames.
FURIOUS BACKLASH
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose San Francisco district Milk represented, condemned the move as “a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream.”
“This spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the ‘warrior’ ethos,” Pelosi declared. Instead, it is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country.
California Governor Gavin Newsom blasted the decision on X: “Donald Trump’s assault on veterans has hit a new low. Harvey Milk wasn’t just a civil rights icon — he was a Korean War combat veteran whose commander called him ‘outstanding.’
He added: “Stripping his name from a Navy ship won’t erase his legacy as an American icon, but it does reveal Trump’s contempt for the very values our veterans fight to protect.
FAMILY HEARTBREAK
Stuart Milk, Harvey’s nephew and executive chair of the Harvey Milk Foundation, said the family was “heartbroken” by the Pentagon’s decision.
His legacy has stood as a proud and bright light for the men and women who serve in our nation’s military — including those who have served on the USNS Harvey Milk — and a reminder that no barriers of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or physical infirmity will restrain their human spirit,” he said.
RARE AND CONTROVERSIAL
Ship renamings are exceptionally rare in naval history, with maritime tradition holding that changing a vessel’s name brings bad luck and “tempts retribution from the sea gods.”
The most recent renamings occurred in 2023 when the Biden administration changed two ships with Confederate ties – but that followed a congressionally mandated commission’s recommendations, unlike Hegseth’s unilateral order.
Thomas Oppel, who served as chief of staff to Obama-era Navy Secretary Ray Mabus who originally named the Harvey Milk, accused Hegseth of being “on a rampage” to eliminate anyone from U.S. history who is not a heterosexual White man.
“There have been gay members of the military since there was the first military, and to ignore that or to erase it is just bigoted and small-minded,” Oppel said.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT PLAN
According to the internal documents, Phelan was ordered to select a new name by Tuesday, with the change to be announced aboard the USS Constitution – the Navy’s oldest commissioned ship – later this month.
The USNS Harvey Milk is currently completing maintenance work at an Alabama shipyard, expected to wrap up by the end of June.
No replacement name has been announced, but given Hegseth’s pattern with the Army base renamings, speculation is rife that he will claim to honor a different historical figure who happens to share the surname “Milk.
LEGACY UNDER ATTACK
Harvey Milk became one of the first openly gay men elected to public office in the United States when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He sponsored groundbreaking legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations, housing and employment.
On November 27, 1978, Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated at City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. Milk was just 48 years old.
Before his death, Milk encouraged his friend Gilbert Baker – a US Army veteran – to create what would become the Pride flag, now a global symbol of LGBTQ rights.
Sean Penn won an Oscar for portraying Milk in the 2008 biographical film that brought his story to a new generation.
Now, as Pride Month 2025 begins, the Pentagon is actively working to erase his name from the Navy he served with honor – a move one official admitted was timed to send a message during the celebration of LGBTQ achievements.
The question remains: which civil rights icon will Hegseth target next?
Image credit: Pete Hegseth Official Portrait by Chad J. McNeeley, Public Domain.
