Navy to Name Ship After Gay Rights Activist Harvey Milk

[punky brewster]

Huh. Found this interesting. Not even sure if this belongs in the war room, but 15 years ago this might have been controversial.

https://news.usni.org/2016/07/28/navy-name-ship-gay-rights-activist-harvey-milk

The Navy is set to name a ship after the gay rights icon and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, according to a Congressional notification obtained by USNI News.

Milk came from a Navy family and commissioned in the service in 1951. He served as a diving officer in San Diego during the Korean War on the submarine rescue ship Kittiwake until 1955. Milk was honorably discharged from the service as a lieutenant junior grade.

Following his service, Milk was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors and was the first openly gay California politician to be elected to office. He was killed in office in 1978. When Milk was shot he was wearing his U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle.

Mabus has said the John Lewis-class – named after civil rights activist and congressman Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) – would be named after civil rights leaders.

Other names in the class include former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren whose court ruled to desegregate U.S. schools, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, women’s right activist Lucy Stone and abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth.

 

[bref]

The USS Milk sounds kind of funny.

 

[lfd0311]

I mean, it's going to be full of seamen, so.....

 

[Gref]

No homo.

 

[SleepyBoy]

somewhere there is a good joke with" In the Navy" by the village people

 

[punky brewster]

Side note.

This class of ship are Fleet Replenishment Oilers. So it will literally be filled with lube and seamen.

 

[Sakuraba808]

The Seamen of USS Milk.

 

[riddleofsteel]

Just as long as they don't name the galley after his pal, Jim Jones.

 

[Thai Domi]

God no.

 

[n...not crazy]

Harvey Milk? Gay? Seamen? Can't think of any jokes.

 

[wellz6]

He likes his milk thick and sticky

 

[Rod1]

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

Sojourner Truth is a great name for a ship, mostly because it doesn't sound like a name for a human being but a boat to begin with. Like Millennium Falcon.

 

[uncommon]

Name selection should be based on merit during the time of service not what the person did afterwards. Or be neutral in nature, and not persuade any political agenda.

 

[Hankooks]

That's gay.

 

[m52nickerson]

So a man the served honorably in the navy and then went on to fight for a cause he believed in, getting killed because of that, is getting recognized. That's a good thing.

The people who will have a problem with this would not if the cause was not gay rights.

 

[dije1]

The Good Ship Lollipop

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Love the band!

 

[klnOmega]

I'm sure a bunch of twitter bot accounts will spam a bunch of homophobic stuff to rally the dem base and make them forget about the email leaks.

 

[Dolomite]

I'm cool with this.