The U.S. Navy is set to name a ship after pioneering gay politician Harvey Milk.
A congressional notification signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus indicates plans to name a Military Sealift Command fleet oiler the USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO 206), USNI News reported.
The ship would be the second in the John Lewis-class of oilers, named for Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, all of which are to be named after civil rights leaders.
A Navy diving officer based in San Diego during the Korean War, Milk attained the rank of lieutenant junior grade before he was honorably discharged in 1955. He went on to become the first openly gay politician to be elected in California, when he was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1978.
There have been pushes to name a Navy ship after Milk since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2011.
The notification includes the names of other civil rights icons after whom the Navy plans to name ships, including the USNS Earl Warren (T-AO 207), USNS Robert F. Kennedy (T-AO 208), USNS Lucy Stone (T-AO 209) and USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO 210).
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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