WASHINGTON, D.C. — (June 28, 2025) — In a move that has ignited national backlash, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. Navy will strip civil rights icon Harvey Milk’s name from a Navy ship — and rename it in honor of WWII Medal of Honor recipient Oscar V. Peterson.

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The decision, announced just as Pride Month began, is being widely criticized as part of the Trump administration’s broader rollback of LGBTQ+ visibility and rights.

“We are taking the politics out of ship naming,” Hegseth said Friday on X.
“This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration.”

The oil-supply vessel, originally christened the USNS Harvey Milk in 2016 by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, was part of a John Lewis-class line named for civil and human rights leaders. Milk, a former Navy officer, was discharged under anti-gay military policies and went on to become one of America’s first openly gay elected officials before being assassinated in 1978.

Critics see the decision as a political stunt wrapped in uniform.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed the move on social media:

“The right’s cancel culture is at it again.
A cowardly act from a man desperate to distract us from his inability to lead the Pentagon.”

A Calculated Culture War Move?

Peterson’s heroism during the 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea is undisputed — but the timing of this replacement has sparked accusations that LGBTQ+ veterans are being sidelined.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other officials also condemned the move, framing it as a direct attempt to erase queer contributions to American history.

“People want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in,” Hegseth said — but many LGBTQ+ service members say they already were, thanks to the progress represented by Milk’s name.

As anti-LGBTQ sentiment continues to shape policy at the highest levels of government, JRL CHARTS will keep tracking every attempt to erase our legacy — and those fighting to preserve it.

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