Sorensen, Baldwin Demand Answers on Harvey Milk Ship Erasure
House and Senate Democrats chastise Pentagon leaders over plan to strip Harvey Milk’s name from Navy ship honoring civil rights icons.
In a tense House hearing, a pair of congressional Democrats blasted Pentagon officials for stripping gay rights icon Harvey Milk’s name from a Navy ship, accusing the military of erasing LGBTQ history. U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), an out gay Democrat, directly confronted Navy Secretary John Phelan over the decision during the June 11 Armed Services Committee meeting.
“I just wanted to take a moment to talk about a veteran who served on a submarine as a diving officer during the Korean War,” Sorensen said, referring to Milk’s biography before actually naming him.
“From 1951 to 1955, this courageous American served our country in the Navy, just like my grandpa did. But unlike my grandpa, this veteran was forced to resign from the Navy, receiving an ‘other than honorable’ [discharge] rather than be court-martialed because of his homosexuality,” Sorensen said.
“Harvey Milk, like every veteran who served our nation, deserves our thanks. To Secretary Phelan, can you specifically explain to me and this committee why this administration no longer believes in honoring Mr. Harvey Milk’s service to our nation?”
Phelan responded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants all military installations to reflect Donald Trump’s priorities, U.S. history, and what Hegseth refers to as a “warrior ethos.”
Phelan said that nothing about the timing of the renaming of the USNS Harvey Milk, a John Lewis-class oiler — a class of ships that refuel others, which were intended to be named after civil rights leaders — that bears the out gay politician’s name, has been decided yet. Phelan said that such decisions will be announced once a review is complete.
Phelan insisted no decision has been made yet on when the USNS Harvey Milk will be renamed. The ship, part of the John Lewis-class oilers, intended to honor civil rights heroes, is still under review, with no timeline or clarity offered.
Sorensen asked Phelan to relay to Hegseth the importance of honoring all veterans.
“I believe he does honor all veterans,” Phelan replied.
“As the only elected LGBTQ person on this committee and the first ever from my home state, I speak for my neighbors and all Americans when I say that Navy veteran Harvey Milk was a warrior in Korea before becoming an elected leader,” Sorensen responded. “His service and his life ended with an assassin’s bullet. I walk in the footsteps of leaders before me. He stood up for the same people who are being targeted, persecuted, and vilified by this administration today.
“My grandpa taught me to stand up for every veteran and thank them every time I see them, thank them for their service,” Sorensen added. “But picking and choosing who deserves that thanks — it’s not just wrong, it is un-American.”
Sorensen was among 70 House Democrats who signed a letter — led by Reps. Jill Tokuda (Hawaii) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — urging Hegseth to reverse the decision to rename the Milk and to drop any plans to strip other oilers of their civil rights-era namesakes.
“The Navy’s records show that Milk was ‘considered very good officer material,’ and his battalion commander wrote that Milk was ‘a good leader’ and ‘outstanding,'” the letter reads. “Naming the USNS Harvey Milk pays tribute to an American who dedicated and gave his life to serving our country in uniform and in public office. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ website even recognizes that Milk’s life and legacy ‘exemplified the Navy’s core values’ of honor, courage, and commitment.
“Ordering this renaming and intentionally timing this announcement to coincide with Pride Month is a cruel insult to tens of thousands of LGBTQI+ individuals currently serving in our nation’s military and the nearly one million LGBTQI+ Veterans across the country.”
The letter calls Hegseth’s renaming effort a “waste of valuable time and resources.”
Meanwhile, in the Senate, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) confronted Pete Hegseth directly during an Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing, chastising him for spending his time targeting not just the Milk, but other John Lewis-class ships named for civil rights icons, including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman.
The proposed name changes are part of Hegseth’s broader agenda to erase anything he deems “woke,” including military programs, educational materials, and honors recognizing racial or gender diversity, or individuals who fought discrimination.
“I think we can all agree that we are at a critical point in our history with respect to global threats, the need to counter adversaries like China and Iran — you’ve gotten a number of questions along those lines — and I’m disappointed that you are instead focusing on a class of ships named for civil rights leaders,” Baldwin said.
“This committee will continue to pursue serious work in the interests of American national security, and I ask you to choose to join us in that endeavor,” she added.
Hegseth replied that the Pentagon is “not interested in naming ships after activists. That’s the stance we’re taking.”
Baldwin, who is lesbian, also grilled Hegseth over the Pentagon’s justification for banning transgender service members — an analysis rooted in a Trump executive order that falsely claims trans people can’t meet the military’s “rigorous standards” and undermine readiness and cohesion.
When Baldwin pressed for the specific assessment used to justify the ban, Hegseth couldn’t name one.
“The department is planning to separate several 1,000 service members due to your partisan beliefs about troops who are transgender,” Baldwin said. “Mr. Secretary, I’ve seen your speeches and social media posts, but what I’m interested in is the sound policy analysis that we would expect from the Secretary of Defense and how this misguided decision will impact military readiness.”
“We did extensive analysis,” Hegseth claimed. “We agree with the assessment of the executive order that was issued by the White House that there are mental health issues associated with gender dysphoria that complicate military service and readiness, and as a result, we made the decision.”
Baldwin again pressed Hegseth to identify the analysis and demanded he provide a copy to both her and the committee, an ask to which he pledged to comply, though no timeline was offered.
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