7 ms·
Navy to Name Ship After Gay Rights Activist Harvey Milk
- elgabogringo 10y agoJust another example of Obama politicizing the armed forces. National defense is the last thing on his mind.
- vonmoltke 10y agoMilitary Sealift Command ships have always had naming conventions like the one discussed in the article.
- elgabogringo 10y agoThey've always chosen divisive political figures?
- vonmoltke 10y agoCesar Chavez and Marcus Garvey have had ships named after them for a while.
- bradleyankrom 10y agoHe didn't choose the name. "The July 14, 2016 notification, signed by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, indicated he intended to name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206)."
- elgabogringo 10y agoRight and that guy ultimately reports up to Obama.
- bradleyankrom 10y agoAnd? Does the POTUS need to personally sign off on and agree with the decisions made by every downstream person? It's the naming of an oil tanker. This decision is not an attack on your personal beliefs.
- elgabogringo 10y agoIt's politicization of the military, as I said in my OP.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y agoThere are ships named after Ronald Reagan as well as both Georges Bush.
- krapp 10y agoYeah, but they were straight, so it's fine. Naming a Navy ship after a gay man clearly signals the end of the Republic.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- elgabogringo 10y agoI said it was the politicization of our armed forces, and it is.
- krapp 10y agoThe purpose of the armed forces is the violent application of political will - they've never been apolitical. Naming a ship after Harvey Milk is no more or less a politicization of the armed forces than naming one after Dwight Eisenhower.
- elgabogringo 10y agoUm... Those two were Presidents. Harvey milk was on a city board of supervisors. Big difference.
- aoki 10y agoship naming has been random and political since forever. submariners used to call SSN 685 "lipscomb fish"...glenard p. lipscomb had nothing to do with the navy and did nothing but die as a congressman the year the ship was being named. uss jimmy carter? the ex-secretary club (forrestal, john warner, thomas s. gates)?
- dogma1138 10y agoIt's not random at all, US navy ships have a pretty strict naming convention. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_ship_naming_conventions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_ship_naming_conv...
- theparanoid 10y agoThe decline of the US military continues.
- marcusgarvey 10y agoHow so?
- ChrisClark 10y agoOh no! The Gay Agenda is attacking you from all sides!
- powertower 10y agoAnd yet - Gays are over-represented in all media and politics by a factor of 3-10x. Homosexuality is now considered a virtue. Double-standards and special provisions are being constructed for LGBTs under the name of "equal rights". Anyone that does not agree with the agenda and propaganda is labeled a hate monger. Etc.
- 467568985476 10y agoI'm really surprised to see this comment on HN. Maybe dang should nuke this whole story before it gets ugly...
- marcusgarvey 10y agoI'm surprised, too, but I don't think nuking it is the right answer. That's just what these folks want.
- PhasmaFelis 10y agoYes yes, and you're not a bigot, you just don't think gay people deserve equal rights. Which is totally different.
- bradleyankrom 10y agoPeople who spill hateful things from their mouths are labeled hate mongers. No one is pushing an agenda on you or anyone else. The "double standards and special provisions" are necessary to protect a class of people who are subjected to relentless torment at the hands of others who don't think they deserve equal rights.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- the_duke 10y agoI can already imagine the shit storm that will come from republicans and conservative media.
- _asummers 10y agoGood. Let it. That fuse can only burn so long before there's nothing left and it fizzles out.
- sorrythrowaway9 10y agoIt'll be hard for them to swallow, that and the fact that the new boat will be full of seamen.
- sctb 10y agoPlease don't do this here.
- vermontdevil 10y agoHe also served four years in the Navy
- ethanbond 10y agoAs is apparent by the screen-high photo of him in uniform directly beneath the headline. The ship is actually named after him due to his civil rights record, however.
- vermontdevil 10y agoI was replying to the post about conservatives going apeshit but didn't put it in the right place.
- ethanbond 10y agoAh! Gotcha. Sorry about the snark then!
- marme 10y agoit is being named after him due to his civil rights work but it is the navy choosing to name something after him because he was a navy man. Robert Kennedy also served in the navy. Had they served in the army the navy would be less likely to want to name ships after them. Which is why it is surprising they are naming a ship after Warren because he served in the army in ww1
- vonmoltke 10y agoIt isn't really that unusual. Military Sealift Command ships are named after notable Americans with little to no connection to the military all the time. This is the first time a class as been specifically designated to honor civil rights pioneers, though.
- nether 10y agoI heard they're naming a ship after him, too.
- sshrinivasan 10y agoMilky McMilkface?
- laveur 10y agoI have to say as a gay man that this is a huge step for any part of the US Armed Forces.
- l0b0 10y agoAs a straight man I say good on them.
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- powertower 10y agoWhat exactly did he do to be honored with a ship's name? Was it for being gay, for serving in the navy for 4 years, for having statutory rape with a number of drug addicted teenage boys, for being an activist that got elected because he was openly gay in one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the US, ...? I understand he was killed while wearing a navy buckle (by another democrat that snapped for losing his job to him), but what was the sacrifice given that would dictate military honor? This is political correctness that will do nothing but divide people further... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/army-rotc-program-allegedly-pushed-men-wear-high-h/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/army-rotc-pr...
- ethanbond 10y agoYou should read the article. It's for being a gay civil rights activist who served in the Navy. Or maybe you weren't actually asking a question?
- scoot 10y ago"statutory rape"? (I hardly think staying in one place is a factor.)
- eropple 10y agoThe "statutory rape" claim against Milk comes, wholly unsourced to the best of my knowledge, from Matt Barber of the Liberty Council, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group along with some of its allies like the AFA. It was later later picked up by and cited by such sterling journalistic organs as WorldNetDaily. Barber and his organization are strong supporters of gay conversion therapy and are responsible for such reality-averse humdingers as the idea that Matthew Shepard--pistol-whipped to a skull fracture, tied to a fence, left for dead by self-admitted gay-bashers--had nothing to do with homosexuality. They are charming, wonderful people and the people who cite them gave up on dog whistles a while ago in favor of desperate, reactionary bullhorns. (It's not working.)
- nashashmi 10y agoThere's something wrong happening when a ship is named after an individual, but not because anything the individual did ... Instead for some political response they are trying to make. This move isn't about honoring the guy, but to legitimize the movement he was part of. IMO, it is an insult to all those other people who have been honored for the sacrifices they have made.
- j-pb 10y agoIMO naming a machine of death after a man of peace is an insult to all those other people fighting for human rights, freedom and peace everywhere.
- bradleyankrom 10y agoAn oil tanker?
- melling 10y agoYou didn't read the article before posting?
- aoki 10y agonot sure i follow this. said man of peace was a navy officer and the article notes that he died wearing memorabilia from his service. do you have some reason to believe he would have agreed with you?
- HelloImDumb 10y agoYou didn't look at the giant photo of Milk in his naval officer's uniform under the headline in the linked article? He served voluntarily under commission in the Korean War. You're going to need better than a bald assertion to assume the Navy is doing one of its own a dishonor.
- bradleyankrom 10y agoSacrifices those other people made in the name of things like civil rights, liberty, and equality?
- 10y ago
- wtbob 10y agoThat's surprising, given Milk's support for Jim Jones and his People's Temple[1,2], whose followers murdered a U.S. congressman and committed mass suicide. [1] http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16566 http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=16566 [2] http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/02/in-defence-of-jim-jones.html http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/02/in-defence-of-jim-jones...
- omonra 10y agoThis report provides relevant background on US navy ship naming: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS22478.pdf https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS22478.pdf For ship types now being procured for the Navy, or recently procured for the Navy, naming rules can be summarized as follows: Aircraft carriers are generally named for past U.S. Presidents. Of the last 14, 10 were named for past U.S. Presidents, and 2 for Members of Congress. Virginia (SSN-774) class attack submarines are being named for states. Destroyers are named for deceased members of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including Secretaries of the Navy. Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) are being named for regionally important U.S. cities and communities. Amphibious assault ships are being named for important battles in which U.S. Marines played a prominent part, and for famous earlier U.S. Navy ships that were not named for battles. San Antonio (LPD-17) class amphibious ships are being named for major U.S. cities and communities, and cities and communities attacked on September 11, 2001. John Lewis (TAO-205) class oilers, previously known as TAO(X)s, are being named for people who fought for civil rights and human rights. Lewis and Clark (TAKE-1) class cargo and ammunition ships were named for famous American explorers, trailblazers, and pioneers. Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPFs), previously called Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSVs), are being named for small U.S. cities. Expeditionary Transport Docks (ESDs) and Expeditionary Sea Bases (ESBs), which were previously called Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ships and Afloat Forward Staging Bases (AFSBs), respectively, are being named for famous names or places of historical significance to U.S. Marines. So basically there has been reserved a class of ships (oilers) that are all going to be named after Civil Rights activists.