This week, reports broke that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the United States Navy to remove the name of gay rights activist Harvey Milk from a vessel.
Hegseth ordered this at the start of so-called “Pride Month.”
The news was first reported by CBS News:
The documents obtained by CBS News also show other vessels named after prominent leaders are also on the Navy's renaming "recommended list."
Among them are the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chavez and USNS Medgar Evers.
ABC News reported that a defense official said that the decision was intentional and planned for the beginning of “Pride Month.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom chimed in on the decision on X.
“The right’s cancel culture is at it again,” Newsom claimed.
“A cowardly act from a man desperate to distract us from his inability to lead the Pentagon,” he added.
The right’s cancel culture is at it again.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 3, 2025
A cowardly act from a man desperate to distract us from his inability to lead the Pentagon. https://t.co/nE5EPddSEw
California Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi sounded off on the decision, as well.
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"The reported decision by the Trump Administration to change the names of the USNS Harvey Milk and other ships in the John Lewis-class is a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream," Pelosi told CBS News in a statement.
This is the latest move in the Trump administration’s efforts to remove wokeness from the United States military, which has been on President Donald Trump’s radar since the beginning of his term.
Earlier this month, Townhall covered how the U.S. Army will alter the records of transgender soldiers to show only their sex at birth. Additionally, the use of preferred pronouns would be done away with.
Before this, the Pentagon gave its final warning to transgender service members to leave on their own accord or that they will be pushed out.
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