Harvey Milk, who was it?
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegseth has ordered a change of name for one of the Navy’s ships. The ship bears the name USNS Harvey Milk. Who is he and why is the ship changing its name? Harvey Milk is an icon among queer people in the US. This doesn’t fit in with the Trump administration’s attempt to stifle the queer community.
Harvey Milk in the Navy
He joined the US Navy during the Korean War. He was a diver aboard a U-boat rescue ship. Later he was transferred to San Diego where he was a diving instructor. He retired from the Navy in 1955. His resignation from the Navy was because he accepted a discharge rather than be court-martialed for his homosexual secularism.
Like so many other homosexuals, Harvey Milk tried to hide his sexuality. He lived in New York, but for a time considered marrying a lesbian friend. The reason was that he wanted them to appear to be something other than they really were. However, he abandoned the idea and continued to live in New York.
In 1962, he began a relationship with Craig Rodwell, 10 years his junior. Unlike Harvey Milk, Rodwell was an activist in the gay community in New York. This frightened Milk somewhat. Rodwell was constantly in the police spotlight for offenses of soliciting and arranging homosexual activities.
Coming out as gay
Harvey Milk came out as gay in the 1960s. The counterculture in the USA led to the emergence of a gay and lesbian community in San Francisco. In the area known as the Castro, there were particularly many queer people who settled down. Among them was Harvey Milk.
In the beginning, some people were skeptical of him on Castro Street. These included Jim Foster, who was a kind of leader for homosexuals in Castro Street when Milk arrived. Harvey Milk took a big place in the community and tried several times to get a seat on the city council in San Francisco. His election campaigns were like theater. Eventually he called himself the mayor of Castro Street.
In 1977, he was elected as a city council member in San Francisco. After three unsuccessful attempts to be elected, he succeeded. His popularity among queer people in San Francisco was great and the area attracted more and more queer people. Harvey Milk got a law passed that established gay rights. The law prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in public bodies and employment. The law was passed by a vote of 11 to 1.
The murder
On November 27, 1978, former San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk were murdered by Dan White. The only person to vote against the gay rights bill was Dan White. He resigned from the city council in protest. Dan White was a conservative Democrat who came from a white area of San Francisco. White was concerned about the rise of homosexuals in the city and described himself as a “defender of home, family and religious life against homosexuals, pot smokers and cynics”.
On November 27, White went to City Hall in San Francisco. There he shot first Moscone, then Milk. During the trial, the defense argued that Dan White was suffering from severe depression at the time of the shooting and that the murders could therefore not be considered premeditated. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but only served five of them.
Harvey Milk is an icon
Harvey Milk has become an icon for disc and gay people in the US. His employment in the US Navy and later forced resignation is remembered. The fact that one of the U.S. Navy’s boats bore his name tells us a lot about how the Navy and the U.S. eventually viewed homosexuals.
With the new administration in the White House, gay rights are once again under threat. The Secretary of Defense’s demand to change the name of the ship is in line with the change. The rights of queer people in the US are being set back decades with Trump’s administration.
Sources:
Military.com: Hegseth Orders Navy to Strip Name of Gay Rights Icon Harvey Milk from Ship