Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is reportedly considering renaming a U.S. Navy vessel currently named after famed gay rights activist and veteran Harvey Milk.
The secretary’s decision has not been publicly announced, though it was slated to be revealed on June 13, according to a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy obtained by Military.com. The memo did not reveal the new name of the USNS Harvey Milk, a John Lewis-class oiler.
The memo noted that the name change is being done to ensure “alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell did not deny the renaming decision in a statement.
“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. “Any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.”
The Office of the Secretary of the Navy did not respond to a request for a comment. The ship may not be the only naval vessel named after prominent civilian leaders to be renamed.
The oiler was named after Milk, who served in the Navy during the Korean War, in 2016. About two decades after accepting an “other than honorable” discharge from service because of his homosexuality, he won a seat on the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1977, which made him the first openly gay California politician to be elected to office. A year later, he was assassinated.
Multiple Democrats were quick to rebuke the possible renaming.
“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,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in a statement.
“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.”
The decision, which coincides with Pride Month, is the latest example of the secretary’s efforts to dismantle the department’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts by removing related programs, policies, positions, books, and social media posts.
Hegseth has also brought back two military base names, Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, which had been changed in 2023 due to their namesakes’ connections to the Confederacy.
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Similarly, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said: “That’s a complete and total disgrace. It’s an utter abomination in terms of the extreme back Republican effort to continue to erase American history, and we’re not going to allow it to happen.”
Under Hegseth’s leadership, the department has also sought to push out transgender service members.