Unintended Consequences. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to strike the name of martyred politiican and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk from one of its ships.
Not only is it unusual for the Navy to rename a ship, it's remarkably insensitive that this announcement was made during Gay Pride Month.
Which brings me to this:
So let's take a closer look at Harvey:
1. Harvey Milk served in the Navy during the Korean War. A Navy diver, he reached the rank of Lt. (j.g).
2. He left the military in 1955, accepting a less than honorable discharge rather than face court-martial for his sexuality.
3. After his military service, he returned home to New York and tried a variety of careers. None of them stuck.
4. He moved to San Francisco and became an entrepreneur, opening a camera store in the gay-friendly Castro District.
5. As an openly gay businessman, he felt he had a lot to say and was determined to be heard. After running unsuccessfully for office three times, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. This made him the first openly gay public official in California.
6. He was forward focused. An inspiring orator, he often reminded audiences, "Hope will never be silent," and, "We will not win our rights standing silently in the closet."
7. He and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were powerful political allies, making real, positive change for the gay community.
8. Milk helped make it legal for gay teachers to work in the public school system, and illegal for any San Franciscan to be denied housing based on sexual orientation.
9. When he was also a supervisor, Dan White opposed Milk's progressive agenda. He was especially opposed to Milk's ban on housing discrimination.
10. White entered City Hall through a window to avoid the metal detector and proceeded to assassinate both Milk and Moscone. He pressed the barrel of his gun against Milk's skull and fired twice. The jury found White guilty of manslaughter, not premeditated murder.
11. In 2008, Sean Penn won the Oscar as Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk.
12. In 2009, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Harvey Milk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
13. Harvey Milk Day is still celebrated every year in San Francisco on his birthday, May 22.
Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.
Interesting. This fascist stuff is terribly scary, isn't it? Renaming a ship because you're afraid of sexuality. How juvenile.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post--I knew some of this but not all of it.
ReplyDeleteJesus had compassion for those who sinned and wanted forgiveness. But woe to the Pharisees because they were such hypocrites. They thought they were better than everyone else. God does not rank sin.
ReplyDeleteI can't even say how enraged this makes me. And liberals are the snowflakes?!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't unintended. They deliberately chose Gay Pride Month for that announcement. Because they suck. But, I thought it was bad luck to rename a ship. So, isn't this just incredibly stupid? (Don't answer that. It is.)
ReplyDeleteI disagree and think Dan Rather was right. That Harvey Milk's name is once again on people's lips, that he's being remembered as a hero and a martyr, was not the Administration's intention.
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