Harvey Milk has been honored with a U.S. Postal Service stamp and an Oscar-winning film for being the first openly gay politician, and now it looks like the U.S. Navy will be honoring the civil rights leader as well.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus signed a Congressional notification to name a planned Military Sealift Command fleet oiler after Milk, according to USNI News.
The July 14 notification was obtained by the USNI News, however the Navy is declining to comment further until an official announcement in made.
The ship, which will carry the name USNS Harvey Milk, is a part of Georgia Rep. John Lewis’ class of oilers, all of which will be named after civil rights leaders.
Other ships in the class will be named after Robert F. Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren and women’s rights activists Lucy Stone and Sojouner Truth.
Milk was born into a Naval family and joined the seafaring branch of the military in 1951 as a diving officer, serving during the Korean War.
