Harvey Milk: The Gay Veteran And Civil Rights Activist
Stuart Milk/Wikimedia CommonsHarvey Milk at his brother’s wedding in 1954.
Harvey Milk is one of America’s best-known gay civil rights activists. But Milk was also a veteran.
After enlisting in the Navy in 1951, Milk attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and was later stationed in San Diego.
But in 1955, after Milk had served as a diving officer on a submarine rescue ship during the Korean War, his superiors started to question him about his sexuality. In the 1950s, the military had a strict zero-tolerance policy toward LGBTQ soldiers.
They had learned that Milk was spotted at a San Diego park popular among gay men. As a result, Milk was forced to resign.
In the coming years, however, he reinvented himself as an activist for the rights of the LGBTQ community and became the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.
Daniel Nicoletta/Wikimedia CommonsAfter resigning from the Navy, Harvey Milk made history as the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.
Though Milk was tragically assassinated just a year into his tenure, his legacy as an LGBTQ soldier and civil rights activist lives on. In 2021, the Navy even named a ship after him.
“Leaders like Harvey Milk taught us that diversity of backgrounds and experiences help contribute to the strength and resolve of our nation,” stated Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, acknowledging the vital role that LGBTQ soldiers play in the American military.
“There is no doubt that the future Sailors aboard this ship will be inspired by Milk’s life and legacy.”
For his nephew, Stuart Milk, the USNS Harvey Milk, represents something important for LGBTQ soldiers across the world.
“(This) sends a global message of inclusion more powerful than simply ‘We’ll tolerate everyone,'” Milk explained. “(It says) We celebrate everyone.”
After reading about these LGBTQ soldiers from history, look through this collection of the world’s most impressive war heroes. The, learn about the Buffalo Soldiers, the first all-Black peacetime regiment in U.S. history.
