R000486
Tuesday, March 12, 2002 4:13 PM
Give benefits equally for gay victims
Please compensate the gay domestic partners of 9-11 victims in the same way
you?d compensate a grieving spouse.
The U.S. Department of Justice?s September 11 compensation fund is
compensating illegal aliens, who are breaking our federal laws, but not
compensating the domestic partners of gay 9-11 victims. I have just spoken
with , who confirmed this fact. DOJ cites as their policy
justification that state laws don?t acknowledge domestic partners. In fact,
this is homophobic logic.
Yes, most states don?t yet legalize the unions of gay partners. That doesn?
t change the facts. Americans use the freedom we have in the ?pursuit of
happiness? in many ways. Many millions of Americans choose to commit
themselves to partners of their same gender. Both and myself
have such unions in our families. Even Dick Cheney has such family members.
When you love someone, you can feel the love and humanity in their families.
You know that their loss upon a death is as deep as anyone?s loss at the
death of a spouse.
The September 11 fund is supposed to compensate people for their grief, not
cause grief. The Department of Justice should stand for justice. Here, the
justice should be for those who lost their life partners (in fact, not
according to changeable laws). Without compensation for gay domestic
partners, the ?Department of Justice? stabs a knife into the already-open
emotional wound of their loss.
Respectfully submitted,
Individual Comment
San Francisco, California