Tuesday, Aug. 16, City Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez will lead a San Diego delegation to San Francisco for the official naming ceremony of the Harvey Milk Navy ship to be built and dedicated in San Diego.
Among the San Diego delegation will be Councilman Todd Gloria, Ben Dillingham III, (Member of the San Diego County Veterans Advisory Board), City Commissioner Bruce Abrams (chair of City of San Diego’s Foreign Affairs Commission), Robert Gleason (past chair of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority) and Marine veteran Bob Lehman (past chair of American Veterans for Equality.)
“The naming of a Navy vessel in honor of Harvey Milk is America acknowledging the service of GLBT active military and veterans who have served our great nation since the Revolutionary War,” stated Ramirez.
The USNS Harvey Milk will be one of six total ships in the class which will all be named after civil and human rights leaders. The first fleet replenishment oiler (T-AO 205) in the series will be named USNS John Lewis after the civil rights movement leader and current U.S. representative of Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District.
“Uncle Harvey knew that our individual actions of open authenticity would be the key to changing the lives of LGBT people everywhere. And it was his belief in the power of that visibility which gave him the courage to face those bullets that he both anticipated and would ultimately take his life,” said Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk and co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation. “As a proud Navy veteran, Uncle Harvey was committed to public service, aided by courage, persistence, and the belief that our shared journey is enriched, and not weakened, by our diversity.”
In 2011, long-time Latino and gay activist Ramirez launched a national letter writing campaign to the secretary of the Navy asking for a naval vessel to be named after gay icon Harvey Milk. Milk served in the U.S. Navy, and was stationed in San Diego during the 1950s.
Ramirez also led the successful nationwide campaign to get the U.S. Postal Service to issue a postage stamp in honor of Harvey Milk, which was unveiled at the White House in 2014. Ramirez, who was a friend of Harvey Milk, and Councilman Todd Gloria worked together to also have San Diego become the first city in the nation to name a city street in honor of Milk.
