Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has welcomed Pride month with an uncomfortable surprise for liberals: no more woke policies within the military.
Specifically, the secretary has ordered the removal of gay activist Harvey Milk’s name from a Navy ship, striking a blow against the liberal agenda.
The decision comes during Pride Month, signaling that the Trump administration is serious about restoring traditional military values rather than promoting leftist social experiments.
In a decisive move to restore what officials call the “warrior culture” within America’s armed forces, Hegseth directed the Navy to strip Harvey Milk’s name from one of its vessels.
The timing of this announcement appears deliberate, suggesting a clear shift in priorities from the previous administration’s focus on diversity initiatives.
Named in 2016 by Obama-era Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and christened in 2021, the USNS Harvey Milk is part of a series of ships named after civil rights figures.
Milk served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955 before being discharged after being questioned about his sexual orientation.
He later became one of the first openly gay elected officials in America before his assassination in 1978.
The decision to rename the ship aligns with broader efforts to refocus the military on its primary mission of national defense rather than social justice causes.
According to an official memo, the renaming reflects the Navy’s “alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.”
The Navy has yet to announce a new name for the vessel, which is currently undergoing maintenance in Alabama.
The renaming ceremony is expected to take place aboard the historic USS Constitution.
This decision is part of a broader directive from Hegseth to cease hosting events tied to heritage or awareness months, including Pride Month.
The move signals a return to military tradition and focus on combat readiness over identity politics that many service members and veterans have been calling for.
Democrats have attacked the decision. Nancy Pelosi called the renaming “shameful” and “vindictive,” claiming it undermines American values.
“The reported decision by the Trump Administration to change the names of the USNS Harvey Milk and other ships in the John Lewis-class is a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream,” she said.
Other ships reportedly being considered for renaming include vessels named after liberal icons like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Thurgood Marshall.
These Obama and Biden-era naming decisions were widely seen as attempts to inject progressive politics into the military.
Experts have long noted that renaming ships is considered rare and even taboo in naval tradition.
For Americans concerned about the military’s focus shifting away from combat readiness to social experimentation, Hegseth’s decision represents a welcome course correction.
