Out Illinois Congressman Rakes Hegseth over Plans to Strip Name of Navy Veteran Harvey Milk from Ship

Openly gay Illinois Rep. Eric Sorensen laid into Pete Hegseth during a session of the House Armed Services Committee after reports came to light that the Department of Defense plans to remove Harvey Milk's name from a Navy ship.

The Advocate reported that the Democratic congressman questioned Hegseth, a former Fox News personality who now serves as the Secretary of Defense, on June 12. Hegseth's grilling came a day after Sorensen similarly called Navy Secretary John Phelan to the carpet.

Text at Sorensen's website noted that during the June 11 session of the House Armed Services Committee, the congressman – "the only LGBTQ+ member on the House Armed Services Committee," and the first openly gay representative from Illinois – "questioned U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan and demanded to know why the U.S. Navy decided to scrub Harvey Milk's name from a ship named in his honor."

Milk, the site points out, "served on a submarine as a diving officer in the Korean War". But his valorous service was not rewarded; rather, because he was gay, Milk was tossed out of the service.

"Harvey Milk was a courageous American who served our country in the Navy just like my grandfather and millions of other veterans," Sorensen stated. "Every veteran deserves to be thanked for their service. It's wrong and un-American for this Administration to remove Harvey's name from a ship named in his honor after he defended our freedoms in the Korean War."

Sorensen drew a sharp contrast between his own grandfather's service and his ineligibility to serve his country in uniform during the days of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," when LGTBQ+ Americans were not allowed to be part of the military unless they lied about who they were.

"You see, as a kid, all I wanted to be was the weatherman on TV," Sorensen told Hegseth, The Advocate relayed. "I learned that I could have gone into the Army or the Navy to learn meteorology. But someone like me wasn't allowed. They didn't want someone like me, Mr. Secretary. There wasn't anything that I could do to change myself or the way that my nation thought of me.

"So I want to keep it very simple," Sorensen continued. "Do you believe that Harvey Milk is a veteran who deserve this country's thanks?"

Cutting off what seemed to be the start of an evasive answer from Hethseth, Sorensen repeated his query. Hegseth offered the non-answer that if Milk's "service was deemed honorable, yes," he merited the gratitude of the country he served to protect.

Under Hegeth's watch, transgender servicemembers are being separated from the military because, according to an executive order issued by President Trump shortly after his inauguration in January, being a transgender individual is "not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member".

The policy of the military in the 1950s, similarly, was to penalize LGBTQ+ patriots in uniform by throwing them out of the service with the resume-wrecking black mark of an "other than honorable discharge".

"I disagree with your leadership and his," Sorensen declared, referencing Phelan, who had not given direct answers to questions the day before.

On June 11, Sorensen educated Phelan on Milk's service, cluing him in that, "From 1951 to 1955, this courageous American served our country in the Navy, just like my grandpa did.

"But unlike my grandpa, this veteran was forced to resign from the Navy, receiving an 'other than honorable' [discharge] rather than be court-martialed because of his homosexuality," Sorensen detailed.

"Harvey Milk, like every veteran who served our nation, deserves our thanks. To Secretary Phelan," the congressman added, "can you specifically explain to me and this committee why this administration no longer believes in honoring Mr. Harvey Milk's service to our nation?"

On June 12, the congressman noted that Hegseth, too, is the grandson of a man who served in the U.S. military, and went on to add that Hegseth "may not find the value in the fact that many of those people are women, with different skin colors, different backgrounds, different talents, immigrants, gay, straight, transgender, disabled. You may want to change it, but you can't. Because the America you and I both serve is a place where everyone has the ability or should have the ability to grow up and be the hero that your grandpa was. I wanted to do that when I was a kid."

Reports on orders to strip Milk's name from the Navy ship also pointed out that the orders were deliberately issued during Pride month. Reports also detailed that a number of other vessels named or civil rights leaders, as well as abolitionists and union leaders, have been recommended for rechristening.