U.S. officials announced Tuesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to change the name of the USNS Harvey Milk. A ship named after gay rights activist and Korean War veteran Harvey Milk.

Milk is widely considered a civil and human rights leader and was one of the first openly gay candidates to ever be elected to office in the United States. Milk was instrumental in getting a bill that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation passed in the 1970s. Milk served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by a former city supervisor who opposed the bill in 1978.

Sean Penn famously portrayed the gay rights icon in the 2008 Oscar winning film “Milk”

The move to change the name of the ship comes from Hegseth, and by extension President Trump in an effort to “re-establish the warrior culture” throughout the United States Armed Forces.

Beyond that, Hegseth has instructed the military to purge all programs, policies, books and even social media mentions of anything to do with diversity, equity and inclusion while also forcing transgender troops out of the military.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that 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.”

This argument doesn’t exactly hold water when it comes to Milk, who served in the United States Navy for four years during the Korean War before being kicked out of the military due to his sexuality.

This move seems short sighted, cruel and unnecessary.

The courage that Milk showed, not only during his military service but also for his courage to be a trailblazer for change in an era where it was incredibly dangerous to do so, as evidenced by the horrifying end to Milk’s life.

Changing the name of a ship in and of itself isn’t the end of the world but it goes to show that Hegseth is committed to erasing the accomplishments of anyone who isn’t straight and white. A point that was made earlier this year when a government website celebrating Jackie Robinson’s accomplishments and service to the country was scrubbed. While Robinson’s site was later put back up, its just another indication that Hegseth and by extension, the Trump administration are trying to remove and rewrite history.