Hegseth announces Navy oil tanker named after gay rights leader renamed after Medal of Honor recipient

Defense Secretary declares, ‘We are taking the politics out of ship naming’ as Pelosi condemns change.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a Navy oil tanker named after gay rights leader Harvey Milk will be renamed after Medal of Honor recipient Oscar V. Peterson.

“We are taking the politics out of ship naming,” he wrote on X along with a video announcing the move.

Milk was California’s first openly gay politician, who was shot and killed inside San Francisco city hall by former San Francisco supervisor Dan White. The ship, a fleet replenishment oiler, was originally named after him in 2016 under President Barack Obama.

He served four years in the Navy in the Korean War but left due to his sexuality.

Peterson was awarded the Medal of Honor after his death, having died of his wounds during battle in World War II in an act of self-sacrifice that saved lives.

“People want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in,” Hegseth said of the change. “We’re not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration.”