Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Orders Rare Renaming of Military Vessel
In a decision that has outraged LGBTQ+ advocates and allies, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the U.S. Navy to remove the name of Harvey Milk, a trailblazing gay rights icon, from a Navy replenishment ship, an action widely viewed as an attack on LGBTQ+ visibility and history within the armed forces.
The directive, confirmed by officials and detailed in a Navy memorandum obtained by Military.com, marks a rare reversal in ship naming and comes during Pride Month, a time traditionally set aside to honor LGBTQ+ struggles and progress. The decision is being implemented by Navy Secretary John Phelan, under orders from Hegseth.
In a post, the Department of Veterans Affairs praised Milk, saying, “Navy Veteran Harvey Milk held onto each of those values throughout his civilian life with great care. When he made history by becoming California’s first openly gay elected official in 1978, it was clear that Milk had integrated the Navy’s core values into his activism.”
Milk, who served in the Navy during the Korean War before becoming one of the first openly gay elected officials in U.S. history, has long stood as a symbol of courage and inclusion. His name was affixed to the USNS Harvey Milk, a John Lewis-class oiler named in honor of civil rights leaders and change-makers. Now, that legacy is being dismantled.
The internal memo rationalizes the change as part of a push to “re-establish the warrior culture” in alignment with the priorities of Hegseth and former President Donald Trump. Critics see it as a thinly veiled effort to erase LGBTQ+ contributions from military history.
Officials have not yet announced what name will replace Milk’s, but the rollout is expected to take place June 13 aboard the USS Constitution. The move not only breaks with the Navy’s naming traditions for the John Lewis class but also erases one of the few formal honors given to an LGBTQ+ American hero within the U.S. military.
There have been indications that Navy officials are considering renaming other ships within the John Lewis group, such as USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman, but USNS Harvey Milk is the first ship for which they have completed plans to change this quickly, and so soon after Harvey Milk Day, which was celebrated on May 22.
