Harvey Milk The US Navy is to name a ship after the late Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. The ship will be a re-fueling vessel of a type known as the John Lewis-class named after black civil rights activist and now congressman John Lewis of Georgia. The vessel will more formally be known as the Military Sealift Command fleet oiler USNS Harvey Milk. Milk was from a naval family and served in the US Navy in the 1950s Korean War, serving on a submarine rescue ship. Following his service, Milk lived and worked in New York before relocating in the 1970s to the iconic gay neighbourhood of the Castro in San Francisco. He was prominent in gay rights activism and was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors. When he was shot to death in office he was wearing his U.S. Navy diver’s belt buckle
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 30th July 2016 - 1:03pm