Construction has begun on a Navy ship named for gay civil rights icon Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to political office in California. Milk served in the Navy during the Korean war and came from a family with a history of serving in the Navy. Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White at City Hall in 1978.
The Washington Post reports: “In a move that signaled an about-face on the issue of gay rights, the Navy on Friday began to construct the USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet oiler that will provide fuel to ships and aircraft. The Navy announced in 2016 that Milk’s name would appear on a ship, along with other civil rights leaders, including abolitionist Sojourner Truth and suffragist Lucy Stone.”
