R000047
Monday, March 11, 2002 12:37 PM
Gay Partners Lost in 9/11
Date sent: 11-MAR-2002
To Whom It May Concern:
I understand the legal reasons for excluding many gay partners from
compensation from 9/11 funds--although the fact that the law can be bent
for illegal aliens and not for US citizens is troubling.
Heroes and victims are heroes and victims; survivors are survivors--
regardless of sexual orientation.
My hope would be that some of the funds from 9/11 will be used either to
advocate for changes in state laws so that the 10-15% of the population
that is gay can, at last, benefit from equal rights under the law, or that
a percentage of the 9/11 funds--10-15% perhaps--could be set aside as a
pool to compensate gay and lesbian partners of those lost 9/11. Gays and
lesbians have children, too, and even if they don't, they do NOT deserve to
be erased and made invisible in the national mourning for this great
tragedy.
I have no expectation that either of these options for gay compensation
will come to pass. Just this week my local newspaper refused to carry an
announcement from the United Unitarian Fellowship announcing a program on
homophobia. The irony in all this, of course, is that it is hatred and
misunderstanding that caused the events of 9/11: we as a nation should
overcome our hatred and misunderstanding of those among us if we wish to
create a better world for the future.
Yours,
Individual Comment