R000289
Monday, March 11, 2002 6:50 PM
A generous and righteous public policy....
If we as a society are agreeing that the survivors of those who lost their
lives are due acknowledgement of the loss, in the form of generous financial
support, then we take on the possibly onerous task of finding equitable means
of reaching out to all of those immediately affected by this unique
cricumstance.
The uniqueness of the event has obviously forced us to look at the challenge
in heretofore inconceivable ways... we are prepared to offer significant
benefits to the survivors of individuals who've broken some of our most
publicly-debated laws -- illegal immigrants, including offering benefits to
those who are themselves in this country illegally. It is a generous and
righteous public policy stance.
How then can we, in good faith, justify denying benefits to the surviving gay
life partners of those who lost their lives, simply because we do not
currently have a legal construct for defining those relationships? Neither
victim nor survivor has violated any American law. They are heroes like all
of those who lost so much (In fact many gay men are among the most vaunted
heroes of the day, including , , and ).
Surely we can find a way to include their survivors in our generous act of
compassion, without doing damage to exsting state or federal law. The
extenuating circumstances of this event demand no less.
I urge you to seek out a way to include the rightful partners of these
American heroes.
Individual Comment
Venice, Ca