Overview

• On June 3, Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Navy to strip the name of gay rights activist Harvey Milk from USNS Harvey Milk and evaluate other John Lewis-class vessels
• Navy Secretary John Phelan has been given until June 13 to submit a new name for the ship
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speakers Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer called the move an erasure of civil rights history
• Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black urged LGBTQ+ communities to build coalitions against what he described as a divisive culture-war strategy
• Conservative commentators argue that naming ships after civil rights icons breaks longstanding naval naming conventions and back restoring traditional honorees