Navy Set To Name Ship After Gay Rights Activist Harvey Milk

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has notified Congress of his intent to name a new John Lewis-class oiler after former Navy officer and slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, a Navy official confirmed Friday.

USNI news reports that that the ship is planned to be a Military Sealift Command fleet oiler, the USNS Harvey Milk. Built by General Dynamics in San Diego, California, the ship will be an oil refueler called the USNS Harvey Milk.

Two years, ago, President Barack Obama honored Milk with a commemorative USA postage stamp. His parents, too, served the Navy in World War I.

The ship is reportedly a John Lewis-class oiler, and will likely enter the service in a couple of years. He was discharged in 1955 as a lieutenant junior grade, according to the Harvey Milk Association web site. The Milk would be the second ship in the class.

When Milk was murdered on November 27, 1978, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone by former city supervisor Dan White, he was wearing his U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle, USNI pointed out. President Obama also honored him by putting his likeness on a U.S. Postal Service stamp. He was assassinated later that year by fellow Supervisor Dan White, but has remained an icon within the LGBT movement to this day. Other ships in the fleet include USNS Earl Warren, USNS Robert F. Kennedy and USNS Sojourner Truth.

After being elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors, he was killed in office in 1978. And, as we all know, he went on to become the first openly gay politician elected in California. “Harvey Milk’s incredible leadership in the face of adversity continues to inspire all of us in our ongoing fight for full LGBT equality”.

Those who knew Milk told the Chronicle that the gay rights advocate would have been proud to have his name brandished on a world-traveling vessel, but that Milk took an anti-war stance when he was alive.