Navy considers removing civil rights leaders' names from ships
Jennifer Bowers Bahney
June 3, 2025
ANTI-DEI IS RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC
Jennifer Bowers Bahney
June 3, 2025
RAW STORY
Norfolk, Virginia, USA - December 21, 2024: An American flag flies on the USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) of the Militart Sealift Command. (Shutterstock)
In its continued attempt to erase diversity, equity, and inclusion from U.S. history, the Trump administration is planning to rename several navy ships currently titled for civil rights leaders like Harvey Milk, Thurgood Marshall and Harriet Tubman, among others, CBS News reported.
The first ship to be renamed, according to documents reviewed by CBS, is the USNS Harvey Milk, which honors the navy veteran and the first openly gay politician in California's history. Milk was assassinated while serving on San Francisco's board of supervisors in 1978 and became an LGBTQ icon.
CBS News noted that the proposed timeline for renaming the ship comes during Pride Month, "the monthlong observance of the LGBTQ+ community that also coincides with the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising of 1969."
Also on the Navy's renaming "recommended list" are the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chavez and USNS Medgar Evers.
CBS News also found "that a December 2024 web article from Naval Sea Systems Command about the laying of the keel for the future USNS Thurgood Marshall has been deleted."
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi told CBS News in statement, "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."
She added, "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."
CBS cited the navy memo that said "the renaming of naval ships was to realign the U.S. military with Trump administration priorities of 'reestablishing the warrior culture.'"
Read the CBS News story here.
Norfolk, Virginia, USA - December 21, 2024: An American flag flies on the USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) of the Militart Sealift Command. (Shutterstock)
In its continued attempt to erase diversity, equity, and inclusion from U.S. history, the Trump administration is planning to rename several navy ships currently titled for civil rights leaders like Harvey Milk, Thurgood Marshall and Harriet Tubman, among others, CBS News reported.
The first ship to be renamed, according to documents reviewed by CBS, is the USNS Harvey Milk, which honors the navy veteran and the first openly gay politician in California's history. Milk was assassinated while serving on San Francisco's board of supervisors in 1978 and became an LGBTQ icon.
CBS News noted that the proposed timeline for renaming the ship comes during Pride Month, "the monthlong observance of the LGBTQ+ community that also coincides with the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising of 1969."
Also on the Navy's renaming "recommended list" are the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chavez and USNS Medgar Evers.
CBS News also found "that a December 2024 web article from Naval Sea Systems Command about the laying of the keel for the future USNS Thurgood Marshall has been deleted."
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi told CBS News in statement, "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."
She added, "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."
CBS cited the navy memo that said "the renaming of naval ships was to realign the U.S. military with Trump administration priorities of 'reestablishing the warrior culture.'"
Read the CBS News story here.
ANTI-DEI IS HOMOPHOBIA
By AFP
June 3, 2025
Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected politicians in the United States - Copyright AFP/File SAUL LOEB
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the renaming of a US Navy ship named after a gay icon, the assassinated former San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, a military affairs website reported Tuesday.
Military.com said it had reviewed a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy that said the move was in line with Hegseth’s purported goal of “reestablishing a warrior culture” in the US armed forces.
Military.com quoted an unidentified defense official as saying that Navy Secretary John Phelan had been ordered by Hegseth to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, and the timing of the upcoming announcement — during LGBTQ WorldPride month — was intentional.
CBS News said the navy is considering re-titling several other ships including two named after former US Supreme Court justices — Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the top court, and liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Responding to the reports, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said “any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.”
“Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all (Department of Defense) installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities, our nation’s history, and the warrior ethos,” Parnell said in a statement.
Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, condemned the reported move to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, calling it “a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream.”
“Harvey Milk proudly served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was a formidable force for change -– not just in California, but in our Country,” the California congresswoman said in a statement.
“This spiteful move… is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country.”
Milk served as a US Navy diver at a time when there was a ban on homosexuality in the military.
One of the first openly gay politicians in America, Milk was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, where he was instrumental in passing laws banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Months later, in 1978, Milk was shot dead along with mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled former city supervisor.
Milk’s murder helped cement his reputation as a civil rights icon, and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The USNS Harvey Milk, a 227-metre (744-foot) refueling vessel, was christened at a ceremony in 2021 attended by then-secretary of the navy Carlos Del Toro.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has moved to ban transgender troops from the military and to dismantle diversity programs, claiming they “undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness.”
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