Erased at Sea: Why the USS Harvey Milk Must Keep Its Name

By: Chad White, Commander of the VLA

In 2016, then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that a new replenishment oiler would bear the name USS Harvey Milk. It was a groundbreaking act — a ship named not just for a civil rights icon, but for a Navy veteran who had been forced out of service for being gay. It marked a moment of reckoning with the military's long, shameful legacy of anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination.

Former Secretary of the Navy - Ray Mabus

Harvey Milk’s military service is often overshadowed by his later work as a politician and activist, but it is a critical part of his story. After graduating from college in 1951, Milk served during the Korean War as a diving officer aboard the USS Kittiwake (ASR-13), a submarine rescue vessel. He later transferred to Naval Station San Diego, where he trained others as a diving instructor. He reached the rank of lieutenant, junior grade — but in 1955, his promising career was abruptly ended. Milk was pressured to accept an “other than honorable” discharge and resign from the Navy rather than face a court-martial simply for being gay.

That discharge haunted him for decades — as it did countless other LGBTQIA+ service members whose records were stained not by misconduct, but by the military’s own bigotry.

Naming a ship after Harvey Milk wasn’t just a tribute. It was a form of justice. It told the truth about the lives of queer Americans in uniform — that they served, that they sacrificed, and that they were wrongfully punished for doing so.

Now, in a chilling reversal, that justice is being stripped away.

On June 3, 2025 — during Pride Month —  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, Fox News Host, and Trump appointee, ordered that the USS Harvey Milk be renamed. No new name has been announced, and no justification has been offered beyond vague references to “reestablishing the warrior culture” and aligning with the "priorities" of the current administration. This is not an isolated incident. Reports suggest that other ships named for civil rights heroes — including USS Thurgood Marshall and USS Ruth Bader Ginsburg — are also on the chopping block.

Harvey Milk served in the US Navy 1951-1955

This move arrives amid a broader, coordinated assault on LGBTQIA+ presence in the armed forces — especially trans service members. In recent months, we’ve seen renewed attempts to bar transgender Americans from military service altogether, echoing past bans that did nothing to improve readiness or morale and only succeeded in sidelining brave, capable individuals. The effort to rename USS Harvey Milk follows the same logic: that queer and trans people must be hidden or erased to preserve a fictionalized ideal of "warrior culture" — one that never included us, and never will unless we fight for it.

Let’s be clear: this is not about “warrior culture.” This is about the culture war against queer and progressive Americans. This is about erasing queer people — and especially queer veterans — from public honor. It's about sending a message that we are not welcome, not valued, and not part of the story the current administration wants to tell about this country.

And it’s not subtle. Choosing Pride Month to announce the renaming of a ship named for a gay rights icon is deliberate. It’s cruel. It is part of a broader, coordinated campaign to roll back visibility and rights for LGBTQIA+ people under the guise of “traditional values” and “military readiness.” But it’s not tradition. It’s reaction. It’s fear. The truth is, Harvey Milk was a warrior. He fought for his country, then fought for his community. And he died for both.

“all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.” - Harvey Milk, 1977