SHAME ON Pete Hegseth
Hegseth Orders Navy to Strip Name of Gay Rights Icon Harvey Milk from Ship
Newsweek reports Harvey Milk Navy Ship To Be Renamed—Vets Call It ‘Insult to LGBTQ Troops’
Stewart Milk’s response
Statement on the report that the Pentagon may rename the USN Ship Harvey Milk by Stuart Milk, Executive Chair of Harvey Milk Foundation and nephew of Civil Rights Icon Harvey Milk on behalf of both the Milk Family and the Harvey Milk Foundation:
We are heartbroken to hear that there is a recommendation at the Pentagon to remove my uncle’s name from the USNS Harvey Milk. I recently had the honor of spending three days and nights aboard the ship with the men and women who serve our country, and I was there as the ship replenished, while underway at sea, the Destroyer Squadron (DESRON2) accompanying the USS Gerald Ford in the Atlantic Ocean. The pride that all the men and women on those ships – gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic, commissioned officers and enlisted personnel – all of them, without exception, expressed and relayed to me, was a testament to the American spirit of patriotism and respect for our nation’s collective history of growth.
Uncle Harvey did not set out to have a US Naval Ship, or anything else, named after him. He did not set out in pursuit of glory or fame. Rather, guided by passion, commitment, and hard work, he did set out to be a messenger of hope for all who had been marginalized and even criminalized, just for being who they authentically were. Harvey Milk was an uncle, a public servant, a son, a veteran, a brother, a teacher, a decorated Naval instructor, and a historic elected official. In the prime of his public service career, he was silenced by another who ultimately tried to erase him. His legacy since that brutal assassination has sustained a message of hope, hope unashamed, hope unafraid, hope that will not be silenced, and hope that simply cannot be erased. My uncle’s life story, his service in the Navy, as a teacher, as a Broadway producer, in local government, and in leading a statewide equality campaign, has continued to stir the hope and aspirations of millions across the globe. His legacy has stood as a proud and bright light for the men and women who serve in our nation’s military – including those who have served on the USNS Harvey Milk – and a reminder that no barriers of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or physical infirmity will restrain their human spirit.
Harvey Milk’s legacy is certainly enhanced and celebrated by a US Naval Ship, however his legacy will not be silenced or diminished by the renaming of that Naval ship. Rather such an action would only serve to prove that Harvey Milk style hope will continue to endure and inspire across the globe, and that neither bullets nor name stripping can stop Harvey’s overriding message to us all – when he prophetically anticipated making the ultimate sacrifice: “Let the bullets that enter my brain, destroy every closet door”. “You gotta give ’em hope.”
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