R000120
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002
Please rethink your position on gay partner compensation
Dear Victims Comp Administrators:
You guys have a very, very difficult job. Figuring out how to dispense cash,
benefits and, with it, compassion to the families of the Sept. 11 horror must
be heart wrenching.
I am writing to let you know that when I heard that you were planning to
limit or deny aid to the life partners of gay and lesbian people who perished
on that horrible day, I started to cry and haven't really been able to stop.
You've managed to wrench my heart, too.
How can you possibly justify this inhumane policy? Why are some lives more
valuable to you than others? Why do you turn your back on some loved ones
and dispense well-deserved compensation to others?
The answers that suggest themselves to me are two: the difficulty in figuring
out what, exactly, constitutes domestic partnership, and just plain bigotry.
Surely at this point in the history of this country there is ample precendent
for determining criteria for a life-partner. Some of the generally accepted
measures include such things as shared real estate, bank accounts,
registration of the relationship with legal entities. Others use a criteria
of the couple having lived together six months or more. These criteria have
been hashed out in the halls of governments all over this country. They have
also been debated in corporate boardrooms. City and state governments
recognize the truth of these relationships through legislation. Companies,
of which there are many Fortune 500 companies, including the airlines that
employed the gay co-pilot, also recognize these relationships by offering
domestic partner benefits. What misunderstanding prevents you from
exercising the same judgement?
Is it possible that you just don't believe gay and lesbian people are worthy
of your compassion? Are we somehow less human to you? Do you imagine that
we don't bleed with the loss of the partners with whom we have fashioned our
dreams for the future?
I sincerely hope you change your mind. There can be no cost-benefit
equations when it comes to grief and justice. How can you live with yourself
if you turn your back on so many of us? How can you compound the grief of
those who are already suffering by pretending their grief matters less and
still think of yourselves as moral beings?
Thank you for considering my views,
Individual Comment