Harvey Milk is most famously known for his involvement in the gay rights movement. In San Diego, Congressman Bob Filner is hoping to recognize Milk as Lieutenant Harvey Milk. Considering the Harvey Milk namesake for the next appropriate Naval ship is what’s most important for the San Diego County’s GLBT Historic Task force along with Naval Secretary and Naval Secretary of Defense.
Filner said, “Naming a ship after the late civil rights activist and Navy Officer Harvey Milk would be a great tribute to Milk’s support for equality and in keeping with effort to promote equality in our military after the recent repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.”
While Harvey Milk was in the U.S. Navy, he served on a submarine rescue ship in the Korean War and then was stationed to San Diego to work as a Naval Dive Instructor in 1954. Later discharged in 1955, Milk had worked his way up to lieutenant rankings. His bio states that Harvey Milk was proud of his service to the U.S. military and died wearing a brass belt buckle with his Navy diver’s insignia on it.
Harvey Milk went to San Francisco after his time in San Diego and became a huge equal rights activist and the first gay person to win elective office in the city and state. Milk was unfortunately assassinated in 1978 by San Francisco supervisor Dan White.
Harvey Milk’s former campaign manager Anne Kronenberg thinks that the christening of a Naval ship in honor of Harvey Milk would bring a smile to his face. Kronenberg, co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation, said, “Harvey understood the importance of symbolism in the advancement of civil rights. He also lived in an era when being out in the military was simply impossible. He’d be quite pleased that we are now in an era when not only can LGBT people be out in the military, but they can even have warships named after them. Times truly have changed.”
In San Diego, the Historic Task force is asking for people to send in letters of support for the christening of a Harvey Milk Naval ship. You can send letters to Ray Mabus, U.S. Navy’s secretary, or sign the online petition in favor of the ship at change.org.
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