Keyboard Warrior Trump Cancels a Real Man

He wants Harvey Milk’s name stripped from a U.S. Navy ship. One man served with honor and courage. The other chickened out.

Donald Trump kicked off Pride Month by desecrating the memory of one of America’s most revered gay leaders, the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Trump dispatched Defense Secretary (and Cabinet bartender) Pete Hegseth to announce that Milk was among a list of cherished Americans who would no longer be deemed fit to have their names on military ships, bases and the like.

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These would be stripped – without apology – for the same reason North Koreans don’t fare well when Kim Jong Un decides he doesn’t like them.

“Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos," a spokesman said. He went on with glee to proclaim that the homophobic timing was “intentional.”

Wonderful. Get ready for the USS Anita Bryant as part of the newly renamed Mel Gibson fleet. Let’s celebrate at the Jerry Falwell Command Center.

I had no idea that military ships and bases were supposed to carry names “reflective of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities.” When did that become a thing? When Arab sheiks started bribing us with half-billion-dollar airplanes?

And isn’t it just swell that the keyboard warrior’s “priorities” included demonizing and slandering Americans whose sexual orientations don’t meet his approval? Trump’s unabashed hatred of trans people was telegraphed clearly in his campaign; the full-out assault on others in the community seems more comparable to the War on Canada.

As to the part about “the nation’s history,” that phrase is generally reserved in MAGA world for white-nationalist hatred, not anti-LGBTQ hatred. On that score, Trump did promise Monday to similarly defile the memory of such great Black Americans as Thurgood Marshall, Harriet Tubman and Medgar Evers.

These indecencies were every bit as disgusting as the ones lobbed at Milk. But that’s just Trump doing racist schtick, which doesn’t even qualify as news anymore.

And nothing should detract from that priceless reference to the “warrior ethos.” Uh, Mr. Secretary, you are aware that you didn’t get that Secretary of War title that your pals at Fox News were agitating for, aren’t you?

All that said, I’d like to think of the attack on Harvey Milk’s legacy as an opportunity, not a moment to take the bait by flailing with righteous indignation. No, none of that for me: Harvey Milk will always be remembered for a lifetime of courage, compassion and principle.

So no need to rage. Rather, reflect on Harvey Milk as the perfect foil to Donald Trump.

Milk devoted his entire life to activism, not only on behalf of other gay men and women, but also on behalf of economic and social justice for a wide swath of others. That’s about as far from Trump as it gets.

Milk was born in 1930 in Woodmere, New York – just 12 miles from where Trump would grow up 16 years later. Milk was a middle-class Jewish kid; Trump, the wealthy scion of a shady real-estate baron, a man reputedly a Christian, but one who taught his son mostly the virtue of self-worship.

After four years in college, Milk joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a diving officer during the Korean War aboard the submarine rescue ship USS Kittiwake. After four years in college, Trump finagled a deferment, apparently owing to Dad’s podiatrist, who confirmed that the boy suffered from the most dreadful of maladies: bone spurs.

So, Milk dove to save lives on a rescue ship. Trump was just rescued —no ship required.

In 1955, Milk received an "other than honorable" discharge due to his sexual orientation – a miserable sign of those times and something that would inform his passion for justice throughout the rest of his life. After his non-service, Trump was forced – as a fledgling shady real estate baron – to reach a settlement with the Nixon Administration for his refusal to rent apartments to Black people.

One might argue that’s “other than honorable.” But I think they went with “no admission of guilt” in Trump’s case.

Both men would go on to public life. After years of activism as a business owner, Milk would, in 1977, become one of the first openly gay elected officials in U.S. history when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Tragically, he would be assassinated just 11 months later by former city supervisor Dan White, who also murdered Mayor George Moscone the same day.

Thankfully, Trump survived his assassination attempt. But the link of both being victimized by political violence adds a note of bitter irony to Trump having chosen to besmirch Harvey Milk.

In his brief life, Milk championed not only LGBTQ rights, but those of so many others who didn’t get a fair shake in our country. His tenure was brief, but his legacy keeps growing.

With his act of hatred, Trump just added to it.