The United States Navy has announced they will name one of their ships after the iconic gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in November 27th, 1978. The ship has yet to be built, but it comes as part of a series of ships to be named after civil rights activists.
Milk had served in the U.S. Navy before becoming the first openly gay official in California. He later became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, a position that allowed him to promote the betterment of gay rights in the city.
The Navy is seeking a new fleet of oil tankers, which will then be named after some of the most prominent civil rights activists in recent history. In a published report by the United States Naval Institute, names will include Robert F. Kennedy, Earl Warren, Lucy Stone, and Sojourner Truth. The John Lewis-class oilers will be built in San Diego at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company shipyard, a division of General Dynamics. General Dynamics stands as the fifth largest defense contractor in the world.
This move is an unprecedented one. Prior to 2011, it was illegal for openly gay or lesbian men and women to serve in the military under the Department of Defense’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. It was only until last month that the ban for transgendered people in the military was finally lifted. With the inclusion of Milk’s name on a military-grade oil tanker, there has been much celebration within the LGBT community.
“We have just reached the point recently where LGBT people can serve openly in the military, and what better message can there be of that than this ship?” said Stuart Milk, who was seventeen years old when his uncle died. “It’s a very fitting tribute to a man whose primary goal was for people to be authentic and not have to wear a mask.”
While there has been praise, there has also been skepticism over the decision. Milk was staunchly against the Vietnam War, and although he had served in the military, he took on an anti-war stance while an elected official. Despite Milk’s personal stance when he was alive, the naming of the ship shows the military’s determination in continuing to make progressive reformations towards the LGBT community.
