US Navy to name ship after gay rights icon Harvey Milk

The ship will be the second in a fleet of oil tankers named for social justice icons

Jamie Darris/Facebook

The US Navy is to name one of its ships after acclaimed gay rights leader Harvey Milk, according to Congressional documents.

News of the ship’s naming has not been officially announced by Naval officials and may prove controversial among serving officers.

However, if confirmed, it marks rapid progress in gay rights only five years after the Pentagon repealed “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in America’s armed forces.

He will be the first openly gay figure to be honoured in such a way.

The US Naval Institute obtained a Congressional notification signed by the Secretary of the Navy indicating the name of the oil tanker, USNS Harvey Milk.

The ship will be the latest in a line of Navy oilers named for US social justice icons.

In January, Navy officials announced the Military Sealift Command ship USNS John Lewis, named for the Georgia congressman and notable leader during the Civil Rights Movement.

USNS John Lewis (Deutsche Marine Blog/Facebook)

Other figures to be named in the John Lewis-class include Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, Robert F Kennedy, pioneering women’s rights activist Lucy Stone, and abolitionist Sojourner Truth.

“As the first of its class, the future USNS John Lewis will play a vital role in the mission of our Navy and Marine Corps while also forging a new path in fleet replenishment,” Navy Sec Ray Mabus said when announcing the fleet earlier this year.

Before he became the first openly gay California politician, Milk served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955. He was a diving officer in San Diego, stationed on a submarine rescue ship until his honourable discharge.


 Harvey Milk in San Francisco 
 (House of Dandridge/Facebook)

The story of his life was the focus of a 2008 biopic, Milk, starring Sean Penn. Penn won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the San Francisco politician.

Milk was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1976 before he was shot dead in 1978.

California politicians have made a significant push for a Naval ship to be named for Milk ever since the Department of Defence repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – a policy that barred open LGBTQ people from serving – in 2011.

“This action by the US Secretary of the Navy will further send a green light to all the brave men and women who serve our nation that honesty, acceptance, and authenticity are held up among the highest ideals of our military,” Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, told the San Diego LGBT Weekly in 2012.