Navy ship to be named for late gay rights leader Harvey Milk
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this April 1977 file photo, San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk sits in the mayor's office during the signing of the city's gay rights bill in San Francisco. The late gay rights leader Milk already has schools, streets and parks named in his honor. Soon, a U.S. Navy ship will join the list. A Navy official said Friday, July 29, 2016, that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus notified Congress earlier this month that a new fleet of replenishment oilers being built in San Diego will be named for Milk and five other civil and human rights icons. (AP Photo/File) (The Associated Press)
The late gay rights leader Harvey Milk already has schools, streets and parks named in his honor. Soon, a U.S. Navy ship will join the list.
A Navy official said Friday that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus notified Congress earlier this month that a new fleet of replenishment oilers will be named for Milk and five other civil and human rights icons.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the news has not been officially announced.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}More than two decades before he became one of the first openly gay candidates elected to public office, Milk spent four years in the Navy.
He was serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when a former colleague assassinated him and Mayor George Moscone.
Other ship name honorees include abolitionist Sojourner Truth, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren and Georgia congressman John Lewis.