Pete Hegseth likes to puff out his chest and wrap himself in the flag, replete with his eye-rolling star-spangled banner pocket square. His entire act is so phony, so immature, so beyond the realm of what gentlemen should be. 

He screams “warrior,” but in reality he is weak, and weak on innumerable levels.

Hegseth tosses around phrases like “warrior ethos” as if he has a trademark on courage, sacrifice, and honor. But make no mistake, Hegseth, Donald Trump’sclueless Defense secretary and longtime right-wing provocateur, is not a warrior by any measure of what a warrior should be.

He is a coward. He is cruel. He is inhumane. Those who scream from the top of their lungs what they think of themselves, are usually the complete opposite. That describes the straw man that is Hegseth.

And his decision to remove Harvey Milk’s name from a U.S. Navy ship, during Pride Month no less, proves it. This is a family-friendly media outlet, but you can only imagine the expletive I would like to use to describe the horrible Hegseth. Let’s just put it this way: How petty can you be to remove the name of someone from a ship because you don’t like the fact that he was gay?

Let’s talk about real courage. Harvey Milk was a Navy veteran, serving his country honorably for four years as a diving officer aboard the USS Kittiwakeduring the Korean War and after. He was discharged at a time when gay people were not even allowed to exist openly in the armed forces, let alone serve.

He was given an “other than honorable” discharge for being gay. He did not hide who he was, and that took real courage, particularly during that era. Milk would not cower.

Still, Milk returned to civilian life not bitter but determined to fight, not with weapons but with words, ideals, and public service. He had fortitude. 

Milk had a good life in New York but moved to San Francisco and decided to run for public office, not once or twice, but three times before finally winning a seat on the Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk wasn’t a glutton for punishment. He was a picture of perseverance.

He did it openly as a gay man, at a time when to do so meant enduring a barrage of threats, slurs, and very real danger. He didn’t have a corporate PAC or a media empire behind him. He didn’t have bodyguards. He had guts. And he won.

And let me just say he had more guts than the soulless Hegseth would ever hope to have, but I digress.

Milk’s victory wasn’t just a personal triumph. It ignited a movement. His election inspired LGBTQ+ people across the country to come out, organize, and believe for the first time that they, too, could hold office, have a voice, and demand their rights. 

He wasn’t just a politician. He was a symbol of hope. And for that, he paid the ultimate price. He was gunned down in cold blood in his own City Hall office just 11 months into his term.

Harvey Milk is a hero, a real honest to goodness hero..His bravery has been chronicled in books, documentaries, and the Oscar-winning film Milk, where Sean Penn’s portrayal captured the real stakes Harvey faced every day. Milk stood up for what was right when doing so could get you killed. That’s what a warrior looks like.

Now let’s look at the pathetic person that is Pete Hegseth, who will never hope to have a flattering book, documentary or movie about him. At best, maybe he’ll have his name someday etched into a prison wall.

This is a man whose resume reads more like a string of scandals than a record of service. Yes, he served in the military, but he’s best known for his post-service career as a Fox News host specializing in culture war tantrums and grievance politics. 

Hegseth’s name has been tied to allegations of sexual harassment, infidelity, and alcohol-fueled misconduct. His recent tirade at the Pentagon, where he lashed out at reporters for their coverage of the military operation in Iran, was pure theater, a hysterical hissy fit.

This is not a man defending the troops. This is a man defending his ego. Can you imagine, for a moment, previous Defense secretaries, like Lloyd Austin, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, and Robert Gates doing something like that? Never! They were gentlemen with decorum. Hegseth is a rogue with indecorum.

And now, to score cheap points with the MAGA base, Hegseth has decided to erase the name USNS Harvey Milk. He says naming the ship after Milk was a “woke mistake.” But he’s lying. This is not about a name. It’s about Hegseth’s larger project to roll back LGBTQ+ inclusion in the military. And if you want my opinion, his goal to kick queers out for good!

He’s already moving to reimpose Trump-era bans on transgender service members. Make no mistake, removing Milk’s name is the opening salvo in a war against queer service members. Why does the madly, self-obsessed egomaniac hate queers so much?

Hegseth’s move is also a gut punch to every LGBTQ+ person who has ever served or who is serving this country with dignity, integrity, and pride. What are they supposed to think now? That their service is less valuable? That their sacrifices mean less? That their lives don’t count?

The truth is, Pete Hegseth could never hope to match the moral courage of Harvey Milk. Hegseth bullies from a podium. Milk stood his ground in the face of hate, knowing full well it might cost him his life. Hegseth panders to bigots, and the bigot in chief Donald Trump. Milk stood for the marginalized. Hegseth thinks valor is about bluster. Milk showed us it’s about conviction.

You can take a name off a ship, but you can’t erase a legacy. Harvey Milk’s name is etched into the history of this nation. Into the hearts of millions of LGBTQ+ Americans. Into the minds of those who still believe public service is about lifting others, not tearing them down.

Harvey Milk is an icon. Pete Hegseth is an idiot.

Milk once said, “Hope will never be silent.” The only thing we can hope for is that someday soon, Hegseth goes silent.