The US Navy’s oiler ship known as the USNS Harvey Milk was launched 2021, but Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is ordering Milk’s name stripped off the ship, and he’s reportedly doing this during Pride Month on purpose to enrage people.  

We already knew that President Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is one of the most genuinely stupid men ever to hold that post, as he’s accidentally texted secret military attack plans to a journalist, and on a completely not-secure device at that. But Hegseth still likes his meaningless shows of strength, and the latest of these comes today, as Military.com reported Tuesday that Hegseth is ordering that Harvey Milk’s name be stripped from the naval ship that bears his name.

Milk was of course the SF supervisor who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US before being assassinated in 1978. And yes, Milk did serve in the Navy in the early- to mid-1950s, though was likely discharged over his sexual orientation. The US Navy Ship Harvey Milk was named in 2016 and launched five years later, and is generally used as an oil transport ship.

The Trump administration is doing this during Pride Month, and that is apparently on purpose. According to Military.com, the unnamed military official who helped them break this story “said that the timing of the announcement — occurring during Pride month — was intentional.”

But that outlet reviewed a memo that said the ship was having its name changed for reasons of  "alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture." (Those acronyms refer to ‘Secretary of Defense’ and ‘Secretary of the Navy.’)

As Military.com also notes, it is highly unusual to rename a Navy ship, and the Navy has generally only done this with ships named for individuals who supported the Confederacy.

Our Congressional representative Nancy Pelosi blasted the move in a Tuesday statement. "Our military is the most powerful in the world — but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the 'warrior' ethos," Pelosi said, adding that the name change was "a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream."

According to CBS News, the Navy is considering renaming a number of ships named for civil rights leaders, including ships named for Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriet Tubman, Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, and Medgar Evers.

Related: Harvey Milk Terminal 1 Debuts To The Public At SFO With Tribute Wall To LGBTQ History [SFist]

Image: SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 16: U.S. Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds a hat for the new USNS Harvey Milk during a ship naming ceremony on August 16, 2016 in San Francisco, California. U.S. Navy officials announced plans to name a new replenishment oiler ship after slain civil rights leader Harvey Milk. Six new ships in the class will be named after civil and human rights leaders. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)