Alva Review-Courier -

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Navy ship named for slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk, who served four years in the Navy before being forced out, was christened and launched in San Diego Bay on Saturday.

The replenishment oiler USNS Harvey Milk slid down the shipyard ways after a bottle of champagne was smashed on the bow by former Navy officer Paula M. Neira, clinical program director for the John Hopkins Center for Transgender Health.

Milk's nephew, Stuart Milk, and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro watched the traditional ceremony.

"The secretary of the Navy needed to be here today, not just to amend the...