A Navy vessel named after celebrated gay rights activist and Navy veteran Harvey Milk will no longer carry his name.
NBC News confirmed with the Navy that the USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet replenishment oiler, will be renamed. No reason was given.
The news comes during Pride Month, the dedicated time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contributions of the LGBTQ community.
After years of devoted activism in San Francisco and across California, Milk became one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials, winning a position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.
In 1978, he and Mayor George Moscone were fatally shot at City Hall. His killer, Dan White, a former city supervisor, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to less than eight years in prison in 1979, sparking a mass protest that turned violent.
Milk was portrayed by Sean Penn in the 2008 film “Milk,” for which Penn won an Academy Award.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the renaming under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will help highlight the priorities of President Donald Trump. Further renamings will be announced following internal reviews, he said 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," Parnell said.
In a statement, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who has offices in San Francisco, characterized the renaming as an attempt to "undermine" LGBTQ+ contributions. He called on Hegseth and U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan to reconsider.
"Harvey Milk’s legacy will not be erased by 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," Padilla said in a statement.
The USNS Harvey Milk is a 2021 vessel designed to support other ships at sea. The USNS Harvey Milk was introduced in a class of several ships named after civil rights figures, including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsberg, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Cesar Chavez and USNS Lucy Stone. The group, or class, of ships is collectively called the John Lewis class, honoring the Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who died in 2020.
Milk served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955, according to the National Archives. On the USS Chanticleer and the USS Kittiwake, he was an operations officer during the Korean War.
In January, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a directive instructing the Pentagon and U.S. military services to abandon any cultural or awareness months. It was titled “Identity Months Dead at DoD,” citing Women’s History Month, LGBTQ Pride Month and Black History Month.
Hegseth's Jan. 31 directive said: “Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department’s warfighting mission. Efforts to divide the force — to put one group ahead of another — erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution.”
Earlier this year, Hegseth also issued an order to restore the name of the North Carolina military base back to Fort Bragg. Its namesake was a Confederate general who owned slaves, and in 2023, the base was renamed Fort Liberty. Hegseth said the new Fort Bragg would be named to honor Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II veteran who earned a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.
