Hegseth orders US military to strip Harvey Milk title from send amid Pride month

The US protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, has ordered america military to strip the title of distinguished homosexual rights activist and military veteran Harvey Milk from a boat all the way through the center of June – a month supposed to have fun the LGBTQ+ group – in keeping with more than one retailers.

The order to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet replenishment oiler, used to be in a memorandum from the place of work of the secretary of the military, which used to be reported on and considered by means of Military.com and CBS. Those stories observe that the military secretary, John Phelan, used to be advised to strip the send of its title by means of Hegseth.

The timing of the announcement, which comes all the way through Pride month, used to be reportedly intentional.

The renaming is being carried out to verify “alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture”, regarding Donald Trump, Hegseth and Phelan, in keeping with the memorandum.

The determination to rename the send shall be publicized on 13 June, in keeping with Military.com

The Guardian has contacted the protection division for remark.

The vessel used to be to start with named after Milk in 2016 all the way through the Barack Obama management. Milk used to be a distinguished homosexual rights activist who served in america military all the way through the Korean battle. He later went directly to run for place of work in California the place he received a seat at the San Francisco board of supervisors. As one of the crucial US’s first overtly homosexual politicians, Milk turned into a leading edge determine of the homosexual rights motion around the nation earlier than his assassination in 1978 by means of a former town manager.

In addition to renaming the USNS Harvey Milk, the protection division plans to rename different vessels which were given names of quite a lot of icons during American historical past.

Documents reviewed by means of CBS confirmed that vessels on america military’s “recommended list” come with USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chavez and USNS Medgar Evers.

In reaction to stories of the protection division renaming its vessels, the California consultant and previous House speaker Nancy Pelosi stated: “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.”

She went on to mention: “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.”