Within the framework of his war in progress against diversity, equity and inclusion, the defense secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Navy to rename Usns Harvey Milk, the ship honoring the rights of homosexuals and veterans of the navy.
A defense official confirmed the decision of several points of sale, noting that the moment was deliberate, June being the month of pride.
Military.com reported for the first time The expected name change and the news of CBS Obtained later Documents of the internal navy detailing deployment times to announce the new name. Until now, the replacement name has not been disclosed.
Usns Harvey Milk is part of the John Lewis of Oilers class, a group of ships appointed according to civil rights figures. Others in the class are appointed after Earl Warren, Robert F. Kennedy, Lucy Stone and Sojourner Truth. But now all are threatened to be renamed.
And CBS reports that Harvey Milk is only the beginning. The other ships on HegSeth’s target list include those named after Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriet Tubman, Dolores Huerta and Medgar Evers. All this is part of a wider thrust to erase the progressive figures and civil rights of military honors.
Rename are rare And did not perform in the direction of a defense secretary in recent memory. The last change of name in 2023 followed the recommendation of a congress commission to rub the names linked to the Confederates of military assets, in particular USS Chancelorsville And USNS MAURY.
But this time, motivation is not a historical calculation. It is a political remuneration.
Hegseth’s order is part of a scanning To erase so-called “alarm clock” In the ranks, under the banner of the restoration of “warlike culture”. Since he took office, he has been Contents of purged military websites, prohibited observances like the month of pride, and sought to undo advances on civil rights. Once even Suggest rejection The B -29 Enola Gay – not because of the story … but because “gay” is in the name.
“Our soldiers are the most powerful in the world – but this bad decision does not strengthen our national security or the philosophy of” warrior “, the former president of the Nancy Pelosi Chamber Written on x. “It is a shameful and vindictive erase of those who fought to break the barriers so that everyone continues the American dream.”
Harvey milk was one of Firstly gay Elected in the United States and the first in California. He served in the navy as a diving officer during the Korean War, at a time when the members of the Gay service had to serve in silence. In 1955, after being questioned by naval investigators on his sexuality, he was obliged to resign With the rank of Junior Lieutenant.
After the soldiers pushed it outside, milk became a pioneer activist. He helped form the Association of the village of Castro– One of the first business networks belonging to LGBTQ in the country – and was elected to the San Francisco supervisor council in 1977. He defended anti -discrimination laws and helped defeat proposal 6, which would have forced the city’s schools to dismiss gay teachers.
Less than a year of office, the mayor of Milk and San Francisco George Moscone were murdered by an old dissatisfied supervisor. The killer, Dan White, received a sentence of only 7 years, causing mass demonstrations.
When the navy named a ship After milk in 2021, former Navy secretary, Carlos Del Toro, said that he “had a difference” and called him the kind of leader that the navy should honor. But it was under President Joe Biden, of course. Under President Donald Trump, the message completely overturned.
Since the appointment of Hegseth, the Pentagon has rubbed the assets of heritage and awareness -raising. His directive “month of identity in Dod” prohibited any use Official time or resources on observations such as the month of black history, the month of women’s history and the month of pride.
He even tried to serve military websites of references to the main figures for civil rights – people and milk – whose very existence represents the values that HegSeth and Trump seem determined to erase.
The change of name of the USNS Harvey Milk is not an isolated decision. It is only a piece of a larger and malicious campaign to rewrite military history in the image of grievance policy.
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