USJUN 4, 2025
Pete Hegseth Demands Navy Rename Vessel Commemorating Gay Rights Champion Harvey Milk
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The U.S. Navy will rename the USNS Harvey Milk, an oil tanker named after the well-known gay rights icon and Navy veteran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly gave the order, marking the latest step in his push to roll back diversity initiatives in the military.
A defense official confirmed the decision to Reuters on Tuesday, saying the directive came directly from Hegseth’s office.
Highlights
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk, an oil tanker named after the gay rights icon and Navy veteran.
- Harvey Milk was a Navy diving officer and the first openly gay elected official in the U.S., known for his civil rights advocacy before his 1978 assassination.
- Hegseth's directive aligns with his broader push to end diversity initiatives in the military and federal government.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. Navy to rename USNS Harvey Milk
Image credits: Getty Images
A timeline for the renaming has not been announced, and the Navy has not officially commented on the move.
The USNS Harvey Milk was christened in 2021 as part of the John Lewis-class fleet oilers. These ships were named after civil and human rights leaders, including Rep. John Lewis and Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren.
Milk, who served in the Navy during the Korean War, became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. before he was assassinated.
The decision to rename the ship comes during Pride Month.
Navy tradition treats changing a ship’s name after christening as generally unprecedented.
Image credits: United States Navy
“While there are some rare examples of Navy ships being renamed following construction and christening, those instances are outliers and, broadly, Navy traditions consider renaming a ship to be taboo,” said a report on Military.com.
Milk enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and served as a diving officer. He was honorably discharged after four years. In 1977, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
His work included building coalitions among marginalized communities and advocating for anti-discrimination laws for LGBTQ+ people, women and marginalized communities.
He fought California’s Proposition 6, which sought to ban gay people from working in public schools.
Milk was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone in 1978 by a disgruntled former city supervisor, Dan White.
The decision to name a ship after Milk in 2016 was seen as a milestone, and nothing controversial given Milk’s time in the Navy.
Milk was a Navy veteran and the first openly gay elected official in the U.S.
Image credits: Getty Images
In a statement Tuesday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the renaming as “spiteful.” She argued that it “does not strengthen our national security or the ‘warrior’ ethos.”
“Instead, it is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country,” the congresswoman said.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, “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. Any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.”
Since taking office in January, Hegseth has ended diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at the Pentagon. He has also canceled observances such as Black History Month, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Two weeks after taking office, he ordered Fort Liberty in North Carolina to be renamed Fort Bragg, and Fort Moore in Georgia to be renamed Fort Benning.
Image credits: Scott Olson/Getty Images
In a speech earlier this year, Hegseth criticized the military’s emphasis on diversity.
“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength,’” he said.
This is part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative to dismantle DEI programs across the federal government and the private sector.
“My administration has taken action to abolish all discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense—and these are policies that were absolute nonsense—throughout the government and the private sector,” Trump told the World Economic Forum after taking office for his second term.
“To erase his (Milk’s) name now—during Pride Month—is no innocent bureaucratic decision. It’s part of Hegseth’s broader campaign to purge the military of anyone who doesn’t fit his narrow, outdated vision,” VoteVets, an NGO advocating for veterans, said in a statement on X.
The planned change to the USNS Harvey Milk name was first reported by Military.com. NBC News later confirmed it.