US Navy to name ship after gay activist Harvey Milk
The U.S. government will honor celebrated gay rights hero and politician Harvey Milk yet again by naming a U.S. Navy ship after him. The U.S. Naval Institute News reported this week that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus signed a Congressional notification on July 14 to commission a yet-to-be-built Military Sealift Command fleet oiler the USNS Harvey Milk. Two years, ago, President Barack Obama honored Milk with a commemorative U.S. postage stamp. California also pays tribute each year to him with a “Harvey Milk Day” on May 22 that was signed into law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009. Milk gained acclaim and is revered by homosexuals as the first openly gay politician elected to office. He served on the San Francisco board of supervisors for 10 months before he was shot and killed in 1978 in what was called an assassination. The ship to be named for Milk is included in a class of oilers being built by General Dynamics NASSCO that will be named after civil rights leader