‘Harvey would say, we’re on the brink’: why conservatives are coming for a gay rights hero

Harvey Milk in his shop, Castro Camera, in San Francisco, California, in 1975. Photograph: Janet Fries/Getty Images

As San Francisco’s pride festivities came to a close last week, a cloud hung over the otherwise joyful celebrations as the city’s LGBTQ+ community learned that the US government had stripped a naval ship of its name honoring the gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk.

Donald Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, claimed the action showed the administration’s commitment to “taking the politics” out of military naming conventions. San Francisco’s queer community saw things differently.