Outgoing Navy Secretary Ray Mabus plans to name a support ship after Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran and gay rights icon, according to a report.
USNI News obtained a congressional notification that Mabus, a political appointee, intends to name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler USNS Harvey Milk.
Milk, who served in the Navy during the Korean War, is a former San Francisco politician who became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.
He was assassinated in 1978 by a fellow city supervisor.
The Milk would be the second ship in the John Lewis-class of oilers being built by General Dynamics.
Lewis is a sitting congressman from Georgia who was a leader in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
A spokesman for Mabus declined to comment until an official announcement is made.
The American Military Partner Association, an organization support LGBT military families, applauded the decision.
“Harvey Milk is an American hero and an icon for LGBT equality, and it’s phenomenal that the U.S. Navy is going to honor his legacy by naming a ship after him,” said President Ashley Broadway-Mack. “Harvey Milk’s incredible leadership in the face of adversity continues to inspire all of us in our ongoing fight for full LGBT equality. By breaking down barriers and fighting for the dignity and worth of all Americans, he left behind an example for all of us in his service to our nation, both in and out of uniform.”
Mabus said he intends to name all the ships in the Lewis class after civil rights leaders. Fleet oilers are ships that sail with carrier strike groups and replenish them with fuel and supplies while underway.
Other names include former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, whose court ruled to desegregate U.S. schools, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, women’s rights activist Lucy Stone and abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth, according to the USNI report.
Mabus, the longest-serving Navy secretary, has come under criticism for his ship names. In 2011, he named a dry cargo ship after labor organizer Cesar Chavez, which raised the ire of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. Similary in April, Hunter objected to Mabus naming a destroyer after former Sen. Carl Levin. Ships are traditionally named after someone after that person has died, although there have been exceptions.
