The U.S. Navy plans to name a ship after LGBT icon and politician Harvey Milk, according to a notification signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus that was first reported Thursday by USNI News.
The notification, signed July 14, indicated the Navy will put Milk’s name on a Military Sealift Command fleet oiler, making it the second of the John Lewis-class oilers, according to USNI News.
Ships in this class, named after Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), are to bear the name of civil rights leaders, according to the site. Additional names for Lewis-class ships include Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, women’s right activist Lucy Stone and abolitionist Sojourner Truth.
Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, where he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was assassinated on November 27, 1978.
