R001596
Monday, March 18, 2002 1:52 AM
Partners of Gays Killed in the 911 Tragedies
Attention: Ken Zwick
Civil Division, USDOJ
Dear Ken:
I have read that gay and lebian partners of gay victims of the 911 tragedies
will not automatically receive the same compensation as heterosexual spouses
of victims from the Victims Compensation Fund created by Congress. I am very
distrubed by this. After 911 there was great talk about there being no
"hyphenated" Americans, e.g., Italian-Americans, Afro-Americans, etc. We
were all only Americans. This was a rallying cry for uniting the country.
In six months time, we have forgotten this rallying cry and are now
discriminating against the surviving families of Gay-Americans who died in
either the World Trade Center, Pentagon, or Pennsylvania tragedies by denying
or threatening to deny them the same compensation as heterosexual suviving
family members. Many of these gay victims are acknowledged heroes such as
, , and . Enough is enough. The
U.S. Government needs to do the right thing and compensate the survivors of
all vicitims in a non-discrimantory manner. This is the American Way.
Sincerely yours,
Individual Comment