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David Campos (left), Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party of California, is LGBT activist Nicole Murray-Ramiles (center) with a photo of Harvey Milk and Bevan Bevan, director of high-speed transportation in the San Francisco Bay region. Take a selfie with Dafty (right). A fleet refueling vessel named after the first openly gay elected official in San Francisco on Saturday, November 6, 2021, in the pre-launch district of USNS Harvey Milk. The Navy is the second of the six Navy John Lewis-class programs after USNS John Lewis. (AP Photo / Alex Gajardo)
San Diego (AP) — A naval vessel named after Harvey Milk, the leader in murdered gay rights, served four years in the Navy before being deported, and was named and launched in San Diego Bay on Saturday. Did.
The supply ship USNS Harvey Milk slipped down the shipyard road after former Navy officer Paula M. Neira, a clinical program director at the Johns Hopkins Transgender Health Center, hit a bottle of champagne on the nose.
Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro watched over the traditional ritual.
“The Secretary of the Navy is here today to not only correct past mistakes, but also to inspire all LGBTQ community leaders in the Navy, in today’s uniforms, and also in the civilian workforce. I needed to, and to tell them that we are committed to them in the future, “Deltro said.
Deltoro, like many others, said milk needs to “hide a very important part of his life” while serving in the Navy.
“For too long, sailors like Lieutenant Milk were cast in the shadows and, worse, out of our beloved Navy,” Del Toro said. “That injustice is part of our Navy history, but so is the patience of everyone who continues to serve in the face of injustice.”
Milk was one of the first open and gay candidates to be elected to public office. He was on the San Francisco Oversight Board in 1978 when former politician Dan White assassinated him and Mayor George Moscone at the city hall.
In 2016, then Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus decided that the six new Oilers to be built would be named after civil and human rights leaders. In addition to milk, they include Sojourner Truth, Chief Justice of the Earl Warren, Robert F. Kennedy, women’s suffrage Lucy Stone, and Congressman John Lewis of Georgia.
Deltoro told the Mavericks who attended the baptismal ceremony that it was a courageous decision.
“The name of the ship is important because it represents what we value as a Marine and our country and conveys their value to the world at all ports of call,” said Del Toro. ..
Stuart Milk, co-founder and chairman of the Harvey Milk Foundation, thanked Mavericks for providing family details of his uncle’s discharge from the Navy.
“His honorable discharge isn’t that great. He was gay and was forced to resign,” said Stuart Milk, “we’re trying to prevent ourselves from going back and repeating it. I have to teach history. “
There is a process of canceling such a discharge, but he does not do it for his late uncle “to keep a memory of how we did not respect everyone in this highly prestigious service.” Said that was important.
The Navy’s tradition of having a “sponsor” of the ship went to Neira and US Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Caliph, who couldn’t attend.
Feinstein was at San Francisco City Hall when Milk and Moscone were shot, and made an amazing announcement of their death. The ship “will carry a rich legacy of civilian leadership,” Feinstein said in a letter he read at the ceremony.
“When Harvey Milk departs, she sends a very strong message to anyone who believes in freedom, justice and freedom, both domestically and worldwide, that this family has a place for you.” Said co-sponsor Neira.
General Dynamics NASSCO began construction of six Oilers in San Diego in 2018 under a $ 3.2 billion Navy contract. The first ship in its class, John Lewis, was baptized this summer.
The Navy launches a ship named after Harvey Milk, the leader in gay rights | WGN Radio 720
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