Hegseth orders oil ship USNS Harvey Milk be renamed in pursuit of "warrior ethos"
The Brief
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered the USNS Harvey Milk be renamed.
The vessel is named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978.
The move is part of a broader campaign to "return to
OAKLAND, Calif. - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered that a naval oiler ship named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk be renamed.
The news was first published by Military.com, which reported that the order was specifically made by Hegseth, and the timing of the announcement — during Pride month — was intentional, and part of the administration's move toward "reestablishing the warrior ethos."
The USNS Harvey Milk is not a combat vessel, and is part of the John Lewis class of oiler ships named for civil rights leaders. Other vessels in that class include the USNS Earl Warren, USNS Robert F. Kennedy, and the USNS Sojourner Truth.
State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) called the move "absolutely shameful."
"Harvey Milk was a hero. He was a veteran who served our country. He died for our community," Wiener said in a statement. "Brave LGBTQ veterans worked for years to achieve the naming of a ship for Harvey. Now Trump and Hegseth are wiping it away due to straight-up bigotry. They're determined to erase LGBTQ people from all aspects of public life."
The backstory
The USNS Harvey Milk was christened in November 2021. The ship was co-sponsored by then-Senator Diane Feinstein, who served as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors during Harvey Milk's term in office.
Milk enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and served as a diving officer during the Korean War. He left the service in 1955 with a "less than honorable discharge" after he was questioned about his sexuality.
Milk was the first openly gay man elected to office, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. During his time in office, he enacted legislation to protect the gay community, including a 1978 ordinance to ban discrimination against the LGBTQ community in housing and employment.
He was assassinated in 1978 by former supervisor Dan White, who was sentenced to seven years for the crime.
Big picture view
This is not the first time Hegseth, a former co-host of Fox and Friends and veteran of the Minnesota National Guard, has moved to rename a military asset.
He made headlines in February for renaming North Carolina's Fort Liberty as Fort Bragg, the name it has carried since it was established in 2018. The original name was a reference to Confederate General Braxton Bragg, whom historians have called one of the worst generals of the civil war.
The fort was renamed in 2022 after Congress determined that individuals who sided with the Confederate Army to fight against the United States were unworthy of being namesakes.
Hegseth renamed the installation as Fort Bragg, but his order said the name pays tribute to Pfc. Roland Bragg, a recipient of the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War 2.
The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club was among the many to react to this development.
"Harvey Milk's legacy will live on with or without a military ship bearing his name, but the Trump administration's decision to remove his name from the USNS Harvey Milk clearly shows why we cannot give an inch on LGBTQ rights to this or any other far right government: they will not stop until they erase us. We won't let them," their statement read in part.
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) condemned the defense secretary's decision. He said Milk's legacy would not be erased by the Trump administration. He called the move part of "Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth's petty culture wars and attempts to undermine the tremendous contributions and service of the LGBTQ+ community to our country." He added, "Price Month is a time for celebrating and honoring the LGBTQ+ community. Attempting to rename the USNS Harvey Milk only deepens the divides Trump has forged across our country."
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