A000401
Tuesday, December 04, 2001 5:23 PM
Please do not ignore survivors of gay and lesbian 9/11 victims
Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Dear Mr. Zwick:
Thank you and the Justice Department for requesting that regular citizens
make known their opinions regarding the proposed regulations that will
underlie the implementation and administration of the "September 11 Victim
Compensation Fund." It is extremely important that the Department draft
regulations that ensure compensation is available to _all_ victims of the
attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of
gay and lesbian victims.
The compounding of grief and hardship that results from legally protected
discrimination against and disenfranchisement of surviving non-biological
family members of gay men and lesbians is well known. Denying the partners
and children of victims of the September 11 attacks is even more cruel
because it propounds the heartless notion that the families of gay and
lesbian victims are somehow of less worth than other families and does so in
a very public, damning way.
The terrorists' religious zeal brought them to a point at which they made no
distinctions among the people who became their victims. If we do not overtly
shun the religious zeal of those citizens of our own country who think that
distinctions can or should be made among the people whose lives were lost or
shattered, we are no better or more humane than were the attackers. In fact,
this will render us more cruel, as we will thereby sentence certain
survivors to privation in the face of their grief due to arbitrary dividing
points.
Please _do not consider,_ even for a single moment, making designations
based upon the sexuality--or any other arbitrary measure of way of
life--that pertains to the victims, thus victimizing their
survivors further. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
--
Individual Comment
Boston, MA