R000201
Monday, March 11, 2002 1:02 PM
Why?
I would like to know why on Sunday morning's "Meet the Press," Kenneth
Feinberg, the head of the September 11 Victim's Compensation Fund (a
program of the US Dept. of Justice), is planning
on limiting what kind of compensation goes to gay and lesbian victims of
the September 11 terrorist attacks. And the way the rules read, gays
and lesbians will probably get nothing.
Forget that
, a gay man, was one of the heroes who brought United Flight 93 down in a field
in Pennsylvania instead of on top of the US Congress, where it was
supposedly headed. And forget that NY Fire Department
was gay, as was the
of the plane that flew into the
Pentagon. No, according to John Ashcroft's Justice Department,
apparently some heroes are more equal than others.
But on today's six month anniversary of
's horrible death, and the
nation's greatest tragedy in decades,
(in addition to other
gay heroes of September 11) is now officially being declared a lesser
kind of hero because he was gay.
In an appearance on the Sunday, March 10 broadcast of NBC's "Meet the
Press," Kenneth Feinberg, the head of the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund (a fund created by Congress and run by the Department
of Justice), said that gay partners of the heroes of September 11th will
not necessarily be eligible for the same compensation as heterosexual
family members who lost their loved ones.
According to Feinberg, lots and lots of people will receive compensation
under the plan, including children, babies, and even fetuses. And as an
indication of how generous the fund will be, even illegal aliens, who
aren't American citizens and who are in the US in violation of federal
law, will
receive benefits. Feinberg even says that the Attorney General has
promised that if undocumented aliens come forward, they won't be kicked
out of the country, and their employers won't be penalized. "The
attorney general, in consultation with Immigration, etc., undocumented
aliens who
come forward, the families will not suffer any consequences. They are
covered by this program. They will get a check. The employer, where we
need the economic information about the
undocumented alien, will not be penalized," Feinberg told "Meet the
Press."
Yep, the Attorney General is himself willing to overlook US law so that
the victims of September 11 can be compensated.
But when it comes to gay Americans who lost a loved one to Mohammad Atta
and his band of thieves, that's when Feinberg and the Department of
Justice suddenly do an about face:
"[Gays and lesbians are] left out of my program to the extent that their
own state doesn't include them. I cannot get into a position in this
program, which has a one-and-a-half or two-year life start
second-guessing what the state of New York or the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts or the state of Virginia or New Jersey, how they treat
same-sex partners, domestic live-ins, etc. I simply say this: What does
your state law say about who is eligible? If your state law makes you
eligible, I will honor state law. If it doesn't, I go with the state.
Otherwise, Tim, I would find myself getting sued in every state by
people claiming that I'm not following how the state distributes money.
I can't get into that local battle. I've got to rely on state law." -
Kenneth Feinberg on NBC's "Meet the Press," March 10, 2002.
That's a long-winded way of saying that if state law discriminates
against gay people, then so will Feinberg and the 911 Fund. The problem
for gay Americans who lost loved ones on September 11 is that most
states do not legally recognize gay relationships, and the very few that
do tend to do so only for state employees, not for citizens at large.
And while a handful of cities do in fact recognize such relationships,
under Feinberg's formula, it's the state's law that counts, not the
city's.
So, in the end, pretty much everyone who died - including people who
aren't even American citizens and were living in the US illegally - will
be honored by the September 11th Fund as deserving of America's special
recognition and thanks. The sole exception will be gay and lesbian
Americans, because Feinberg and the 911 Fund wouldn't want to do
anything contrary to US law. (Unless of course it involves an illegal
alien who isn't even American - then apparently it's okay to bend the
rules.)
On this six-month anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon, Kenneth Feinberg and the September 11th Fund are
telling the American people that regardless of whether a gay man was one
of the four heroes on United Flight 93 who saved the US Congress and the
White
House from utter annihilation, the 911 Fund plans to discriminate
against an American hero because most of the country sanctioned such
discrimination prior to September 11.
If September 11 has taught us anything, it's that our patriotism and
love of country transcend our differences and unite us all. It would be
ironic if the generosity of so many Americans in giving to the September
11th Fund were used to further divide us as a people, and send the
message to all that some American heroes are more equal than others.
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