Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attempt to erase LGBTQ+ icon Harvey Milk's name from a US Navy ship has backfired spectacularly with widespread backlash, including from some of his own supporters.
The controversy erupted after reports surfaced that Hegseth, 44, proposed renaming the USNS Harvey Milk - a vessel dedicated in 2021 to honor the slain gay rights pioneer and Navy veteran.
Milk served four years during the Korean War before being discharged due to questions about his sexual orientation. He went on to become the first openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and was assassinated in 1978.
Hegseth and the broader Trump administration are now facing criticism from veterans' groups, high-profile public figures and former DoD Secretary fans, including Newsweek's political editor Carlo Versano, over the controversial renaming effort.
'I've never before seen a Secretary of Defense so aggressively demote himself to the rank of Chief PETTY Officer,' actor Sean Penn, 64, who portrayed Milk in the Oscar-winning 2008 biopic Milk, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
