In 2021 a ship was named after Harvey Milk, who had served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 to 1955, when he received an “other than honorable” discharge for having engaged in sexual acts with other enlisted men. In November 2021 the U.S. Navy launched the USNS Harvey Milk, a John Lewis-class fleet oiler. It was the first U.S. Navy vessel to be named for an openly gay person, and at the ship’s christening Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said, “For far too long, sailors like Lieutenant Junior Grade Milk were forced into the shadows or, worse yet, forced out of our beloved Navy.” However, in June 2025 U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the ship to be renamed.