The Pentagon has officially announced the renaming of the USNS Harvey Milk, a Navy vessel honoring the slain gay rights leader, to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson, named after a World War II Medal of Honor recipient. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who stated the move is a part of an effort to extricate politics from military naming practices, has faced criticism from various quarters, including LGBTQ advocates who view this as a removal of representation and acknowledgment of gay rights history. The decision has sparked discussions on the implications of renaming military vessels and the erasure of figures significant to minority communities.