R001226
Saturday, March 16, 2002 8:29 PM
The gays and lesbians who died on September 11
were just as valuable to our country and loved
just as much by their partners as any
heterosexual person who died on the same day.
Partners are being denied compensation because
they are not married, however, they are denied
legal recognition of their union by our
government. This is only one more example of the
consistent governmental persecution of LGBT
citizens in this country which advocates equality
and unity. To add salt to the wound, the fathers
and grandparents of fetuses and the spouses and
families of illegal aliens are eligible to
receive compensation, but the long-recognized
unions of loving, caring, gay and lesbian
citizens are void when it comes to federal funds.
How can we be unified when we are systematically
excluded? How are we supposed to support
government actions when those actions include
denying federal funds to the grieving partners of
the gays and lesbians who died on 9/11? We
cannot.
Gays, lesbians, and their partners are valuable,
and consequently deserve recognition from our
government. If members of the LGBT community are
now good enough to die in our country's armed
forces, they are good enough to have their grief
and loss recognized through the 9/11 fund in the
same way that all other family members are being
compensated.
Members of the LGBT community are people who have
lost loved ones on 9/11; they deserved to be
treated as such.
Individual Comment
Claremont, CA