Leaders in San Francisco are blasting the Trump administration for stripping the name of gay icon Harvey Milk from a U.S. naval ship.

Mr. Milk’s name adorns numerous sites in the city, where he became a trailblazer for gay rights before he was killed in 1978. The Pentagon is considering stripping his name from a Navy vessel.

Cowritten with librettist Michael Korie, Harvey Milk Reimagined is a nuanced opera befitting a complicated life. Cut down from the original three acts to two, its restaging comes during a time of despair and precariousness, when Milk’s achievements are worth celebrating and his bridge-building strategy worth studying.

In early June 2025, also known as Pride Month, rumors circulated that Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, was a pedophile. The claim spread online as Military.

"He's an icon. Renaming a ship isn't going to change that," the Oscar-winning 'Milk' screenwriter tells THR, while the film's star calls Defense Secretary Hegseth "chief PETTY officer."