Hegseth orders renaming of Navy ship named after gay rights icon Harvey Milk

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename a ship named after gay rights icon Harvey Milk. Documents. The highly rare move will strip the USNS Harvey Milk of the moniker of slain gay rights activist and Korean War veteran, Harvey Milk.

The news was first reported by Military.com.

U.S. officials say Navy Secretary John Phelan put together a small team to rename the replenishment oiler and that a new name is expected this month. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the next name had not yet been chosen.

The change was laid out in an internal memo that officials said defended the action as a move to align with President Donald Trump and Hegseth’s objectives to “re-establish the warrior culture.”

The timing of the incident, during Pride month, was reportedly intentional.

A memo cited by Military.com indicated that the renaming was done in “alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing warrior culture,” apparently referencing President Donald Trump, Hegseth and Phelan.

According to Military.com, news of the renaming is slated to be publicly announced on June 13. There was no immediate word on what the ship would be renamed as.

Milk was a gay rights activist who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978. During his brief tenure as one of the first openly gay elected officials in the country, Milk championed the gay community and sponsored a bill that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Less than a year after taking office, Milk was assassinated along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone by former supervisor Dan White. White, who served only five years in prison, died by suicide in 1985.

Milk, who was portrayed by Sean Penn in an Oscar-winning 2008 movie, served for four years in the Navy before he was forced out for being gay.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) issued a statement slamming the reported decision to rename the ship:

“Harvey Milk proudly served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was a formidable force for change – not just in California, but in our Country. While he is remembered for his LGBTQ+ advocacy, Harvey fought for the dignity and worth of every person. In San Francisco, we take great pride that our Harvey’s name adorns a mighty ship among a new class of Navy vessels – named for the conscience of the Congress, John Lewis – which honor titans in the fight for freedom. The names of those who fought for civil rights and human rights bring luster to these ships – as their leadership brought luster to America.
 
“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. Our military is the most powerful in the world – but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the “warrior” ethos. Instead, it is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country.
 
“As the rest of us are celebrating the joy of Pride Month, it is my hope that the Navy will reconsider this egregious decision and continue to recognize the extraordinary contributions of Harvey Milk, a Veteran himself, and all Americans who forged historic progress for our nation.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also spoke out against the reported decision, issuing a statement saying, “Donald Trump’s assault on veterans has hit a new low. Harvey Milk wasn’t just a civil rights icon — he was a Korean War combat veteran whose commander called him ‘outstanding.'”

“Stripping his name from a Navy ship won’t erase his legacy as an American icon, but it does reveal Trump’s contempt for the very values our veterans fight to protect,” the statement continued.

The ship is operated by Military Sealift Command, with a crew of about 125 civilian mariners. The Navy says it conducted its first resupply mission at sea in fall 2024, while operating in the Virginia Capes. It continued to resupply Navy ships at sea off the East Coast until it began scheduled maintenance at Alabama Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, earlier this year.

While the renaming is rare, the Biden administration also changed the names of two Navy ships in 2023 as part of the effort to remove Confederate names from U.S. military installations.

The USS Chancellorsville — named for the Civil War battle — was renamed the USS Robert Smalls after a sailor and former enslaved person. And the USNS Maury, an oceanographic survey ship originally named after a Confederate sailor, was renamed the USNS Marie Tharp after a geologist and oceanographic cartographer who created the first scientific maps of the Atlantic Ocean floor.

Maritime lore hints as to why renaming ships is so unusual, suggesting that changing a name is bad luck and tempts retribution from the sea gods.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.