While many on the left were celebrating the beginning of Pride Month, Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth swam against the current and ordered the removal of a gay rights icon’s name from a naval ship.
Harvey Milk is revered by the LGBTQ movement for being one of the first openly gay men elected to public office. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 but was shot and killed about a year later.
‘A shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American dream.’
Sean Parnell, the chief spokesperson for the Pentagon, released a statement about the decision and said that renamings will be released after internal reviews are completed.
“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 said.
Milk had served in the Navy for four years before he was outed as gay, and his parents had each served in the Navy during World War I. The ship was christened in his name in 2021.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released a fiery statement opposing the decision.
“The reported decision by the Trump administration to change the names of the USNS Harvey Milk and other ships in the John Lewis-class is a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American dream,” said the former U.S. House speaker.
RELATED: Gavin Newsom threatens ‘radicalized zealots’ on local school board who rejected books teaching about gay activist Harvey Milk
Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images
“Our military is the most powerful in the world — but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the ‘warrior’ ethos,” she added. “Instead, it is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, also cried out about the renaming on social media.
“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,” he wrote.
Critics who are opposed to honoring Milk point out that he appeared to reveal a sexual relationship when he was in his 30s with a male who was a minor at the time. His defenders claim that the age of consent was 16 years old in many states during that time.
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