Snopes Admits Harvey Milk Was a Predator, Defends Him Anyway

Last month, the Department of the Navy officially renamed the USNS Harvey Milk—a much-needed course correction that finally put an end to the disgraceful decision to honor a known sexual predator.

“This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration. Instead, we’re renaming the ship after a United States Navy Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, as it should be,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explained. “People wanna be proud of the ship they’re sailing in, and so we’re renaming it after a chief, a Navy chief.”

The Navy has renamed the ship the USNS Oscar V. Peterson in honor of Chief Watertender Oscar Peterson, who heroically saved the USS Neosho during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. Despite being gravely wounded in a Japanese attack that killed or injured his entire repair team, Peterson managed to shut the bulkhead stop valves himself, helping keep the ship afloat.

Democrats were, of course, outraged at the move, and debate over the decision followed suit, so much so that even Snopes decided to look into the allegations that Harvey Milk was a sexual predator — a fact we’ve been pointing out at PJ Media for years now.

Snopes sets the scene with the usual cautious language, doing somersaults to distance Milk from the worst allegations, but it can’t quite wriggle away from the facts that stared it right in the face. The core issue is unavoidably straightforward: Harvey Milk, gay rights icon and media-anointed hero, was a thirty-something man who engaged in sexual relationships with teenage boys — minors by any standard.

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This isn’t some wild right-wing conspiracy; it’s a documented fact, even in sources that are sympathetic to Harvey Milk. Snopes itself reluctantly acknowledged, “The most widely reported allegations stem from an account in a Milk biography that described a sexual relationship between Milk and a 16-year-old.” The outlet even admitted to an “inappropriate” relationship with a runaway of unspecified age. 

Snopes has a tell: when the facts are indisputable, cue the excuses. So, rather than confront the implications, it immediately pivoted to hair-splitting over age of consent laws and whether the relationship technically qualifies as pedophilia — an obvious attempt to downplay what it had already conceded. For example, there’s an entire paragraph in Snopes’ fact check that seriously appears to suggest that, because the child was older than 14, what Milk did wasn’t so bad.

According to Snopes, even though the age of consent in California is 18, “the law of the state makes a distinction between the age of consent and sexual crimes committed against children younger than 14 years old.”

In sum, while it is possible Milk's relationship with Galen McKinley may have violated the laws of consent in the state of New York in 1964, it does not appear that modern psychological standards would deem him a pedophile. We will update this report when we can determine what the age of consent was in the state at the time the relationship took place.

Let’s not lose the plot. Thirty-somethings — regardless of orientation, cause, or reputation — seeking out vulnerable teens for sexual relationships paints one picture, and one picture only. Yet, Snopes attempts to defend Milk by essentially saying that, technically, he wasn’t a pedophile because he preyed upon post-pubescent minors.

Snopes’ handling of Harvey Milk’s predatory behavior is a textbook example of partisan spin. While Snopes aggressively fact-checks conservatives over trivial missteps, it twists itself in knots to downplay credible, well-documented accusations against a left-wing icon. Despite its attempts to soften the truth with legal technicalities and vague context, even Snopes admits Milk had inappropriate relationships with underage boys. In trying to shield his legacy, it ends up confirming the very behavior it hopes to excuse, exhibiting exactly why public trust in so-called fact-checkers has cratered.

Tired of seeing predators glorified by the left? PJ Media calls out the distortions and exposes the cover-ups the establishment desperately wants to hide. Our fearless journalism gives you the real story every time. Join PJ Media VIP with code FIGHT for 60% off and unlock members-only content, interactive community perks, and ad-free reading. America needs fearless truth-tellers — support us today.