“Antithetical” is the word Stuart Milk used over and over again when asked for his response to reports that the US Navy is preparing to remove his uncle’s name from one of its ships.

“If they are considering renaming the Harvey Milk, it would be antithetical to the message that they are trying to promote: warrior spirit and heroism of the military,” said Milk in an exclusive telephone interview from Europe. “There’s nothing more heroic than a college graduate who knew that he was Gay but nonetheless took a commissioned post during wartime and became an award-winning Navy diving instructor and commissioned officer.”

An official statement from the Pentagon on the ship’s fate is forthcoming. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to instill a warrior spirit in the armed services by banishing diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

“One of the dumbest phrases in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth told Fox News. “Our diversity is not our strength — our unity and our shared purpose is our strength.”

Before becoming the first out Gay man elected to public office in California, Harvey Milk volunteered for the Navy during the Korean War and served aboard the USS Kittiwake, a submarine rescue ship. As John Fund wrote for National Review, a conservative publication, Milk was a patriot long before he became a groundbreaking activist.

“It’s one thing to properly wipe away obnoxious DEI programs that have created a playpen for superficial thinking and morale-sapping behavior at the Pentagon — it’s another to deliberately remove the name of a historically significant figure. Harvey Milk had a real association with the Navy,” wrote Fund in a piece titled “Harvey Milk Was a Patriot.”

Critics point to Milk’s discharge as evidence of poor discipline. In 1955, Milk was forced to resign after military police tracked him to a park known for homosexual activity, which at that time was illegal.

“It was nonstop questioning trying to get him to admit that he was a homosexual, which he didn’t do,” Stuart Milk said.

Harvey Milk’s discharge papers were 10 pages long, documenting the intense scrutiny over his sexuality. His resignation ultimately resulted in a less than honorable discharge, making him ineligible for VA benefits.

Surprisingly, when given the opportunity to change his uncle’s discharge status by former President Barack Obama and then Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, Stuart Milk refused.

“I thought it was important that we could show progress that we have a ship that was named after someone who was forced to resign because of who he was,” he said. “That’s an important element of teaching our history.”

Last November, Sealift Command brought Stuart Milk aboard the USNS Harvey Milk for three days, where he witnessed firsthand as the oiler refueled the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier. During that time, he got to know many of the servicemembers, most of whom were not from the LGBT community but nevertheless proud, he said, to be connected to a true trailblazer, “mainly because today most people know someone personally who is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender, and therefore that connection made them proud that this country is moving forward,” he said.

No one from the Pentagon has contacted the Milk family about the renaming of assets, Stuart Milk said. If the change goes through, it would send a “terrible message,” he said, but not be met with silence.

“At the end of the day it adds another element to Harvey’s legacy that will propel his name and move people into action as a reminder that as a minority group you must always remain vigilant,” he said.


John McDonald is an award-winning journalist who covers the intersection of LGBTQI issues and national security. He lives in Portland, Oregon.