Naval unit named after controversial politician

The case of the VIRGINIA-class Block IV submarine USS NEW JERSEY, which is gender-neutral in its accommodation and hygiene areas (see news from 18 November 2021), is still going ahead, but some conservative politicians and commentators in the USA have gone too far: at the beginning of November, the US Navy named one of its new support units in San Diego after the mayor HARVEY MILK, who was murdered by a political rival in San Francisco in 1978. Milk had served as a naval diver for four years in the 1950s and also took part in the Korean War (1950-1953) until he was discharged from military service after it became known that he was homosexual. He then made a name for himself as the first openly homosexual politician and rights activist in the USA - which ultimately cost him his life at the age of 48.

The godparent/godmother

Incidentally, the US Navy has named a number of its tankers and supply ships operated by the Military Sealift Command after civil rights activists, including the second tanker of the JOHN LEWIS class. The christening of the USNS HARVEY MILK was performed by the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender Health, Paula M. Neira, who, after graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1985, also served as a surface weapons officer in naval units during Operation Desert Storm. He/she then completely reorientated him/herself. She also became known in 2015 for being the first transgender veteran to have her discharge certificate from active duty corrected to her changed name.

Diversity takes the pressure off the boiler - or not

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro said at the ceremony that leaders like Milk had "taught society that diversity of background and experience makes our nation stronger and more determined". The name is of course also an obligation and does not make it easy for the ship's command, because this topic is truly complex! It is a task for society as a whole that should not be placed on the shoulders of the Navy alone. Biting comments came from the Republican corner: the Navy should "prepare for real wars and not culture wars". A clear and crisp slogan - but somehow out of date.