“Shameful, vindictive erasure”: Hegseth orders removal of Harvey Milk’s name from Navy ship

Pete Hegseth, the nominee for Secretary of Defense under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, attended his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing in Washington, DC. He has instructed the Navy to remove the name of Harvey Milk, a gay rights icon and Navy veteran, from one of its ships. The decision came from a memo by Navy Secretary John Phelan, aligning with the objectives of the president and the Secretary of Defense to reestablish the warrior culture. The renaming of the oil tanker USNS Harvey Milk is expected to be official next week, coinciding with the start of Pride Month. Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a U.S. public office, was assassinated in 1978. The move has been criticized by figures like Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, calling it a disrespectful erasure of those who fought for equality. Hegseth, known for his stance against “wokeness,” has made this decision part of his efforts to restore a “warrior ethos.” The Navy is reportedly considering changing names of other ships honoring civil rights leaders like Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriett Tubman, Cesar Chavez, and Medgar Evers.