by Michael Luciano | June 3, 2025

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the U.S. Navy to rename at least one vessel that currently honors a civil rights icon.

On Tuesday, Military.com reported that it reviewed a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, which is formulating plans to rename the USNS Harvey Milk. The vessel is an oiler ship named for gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was a San Francisco city councilor when he was assassinated in 1978. A defense official confirmed to the website that the Navy is preparing to rename the ship after Hegseth ordered Navy Secretary John Phelan to do so.

Milk served in the Navy during the Korean War, though he was not deployed. He was given a “less than honorable” discharge in 1955 after being questioned about his sexual orientation.

“The official also said that the timing of the announcement — occurring during Pride month — was intentional,” Military.com added.

Earlier in the day, Ed O’Keefe of CBS News reported that the Navy was considering renaming several ships, including the Milk, USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chavez, and USNS Medgar Evers.

Hegseth has made purging diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from the military a top priority. In a memo last month, Hegseth ordered a review of books in military libraries that address sexism and racism. He said such publications were “promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology” that “are incompatible with the Department’s core mission.” The secretary also said that race and sex would not be considered when admitting applicants to U.S. military academies.

The post Hegseth Orders Navy Ship Honoring Civil Rights Icon Renamed first appeared on Mediaite.

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