R000237
Monday, March 11, 2002 4:25 PM
THE LIST: 9/11 Fund Screws Gays
Importance: High
Dear Mr. President,
I have just received an email detailing the ultimate discrimination of gays and partners of gays affected by the national tragedy of September 11th. I am speechless. Please tell me that it's not true - will these victims and heroes not be treated the same as all the others affected by these acts of terrorism? Isn't America better than this? Isn't that what America is all about? Equality and fairness? Where is the fairness in this degradation? How can Mr. Feinberg's fund reward people and their survivors who are here illegally and yet penalize American Heroes and citizens? What can I and other average Americans, who are thankful to be Americans and to have survived 9/11, do to change this unthinkable cruelty by the Fund? In Senator John McCain's , he's called a hero, and I think we all agree helped divert even greater tragedy that awful day.
Copied/Quoted from article at http://uspolitics.about.com/library/weekly/aa031102a.htm
"But on today's six month anniversary of 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.""
Please, Mr. President, look into this unjust exclusion and bring about a fair and just solution. Please also let Americans (no matter what their sexual orientation) know that we as a people believe in equality and will not tolerate discrimination by this unthinkable policy.
Saddened and disillusioned,
Individual Comment
Alpharetta, GA