R001675
Sunday, March 17, 2002 7:26 PM
Unacceptable
A gay man is now acknowledged as a hero in the diversion of the aircraft
presumably meant to strike and destroy the US Capitol on September 11,
2001. Now we learn that gay people will not be eligible for relief in
the form of assistance from the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund.
It is unacceptable that gay people, heroes and victims alike, should be
discriminated against in the dispensation of this fund, which is both an
instrument, and an enunciation, of US Compassion and benevolence for
those who suffered and died. Kenneth Feinberg's reference to
disriminatory State law as his guide in the fund's own discriminatory
policy is a mere political dodge. When through an easy collusion with
the Attorney General, illegal aliens claiming compensation are protected
from prosecution and deportation, and granted eligibility for
compensation by the fund (an extraordinary instance of humaneness,
though certainly both politically volatile and legally questionable) it
is reprehensible that American citizens who lost their lives, and in
some cases sacrificed them heroically, on 9/11 should not be afforded
the same consideration, simply because they are gay.
For the fund, which is not beholden to State Laws, to be rhetorically
held hostage to the sensibilities of state-by-state public opinion
(especially given the aforementioned relaxation of immigration laws) is
simply a morally bankrupt and cowardly position, driven more by efficacy
than fairness, right or common sense. One might as well shape policies
for the fund after the policies of the Taliban, who would certainly be
offended at its equal treatment of (straight) women; not long ago
effectively treated as second-class citizens within the US, in deference
to putatively bread-winning men (lest we forget). Mr. Feinberg might
just as well admit that fear and apathy are the reasons that gay and
lesbian people are "left out of my program," as he so aptly put it on a
recent edition of MEET THE PRESS.
Mr. Feinberg should be reminded that not only is the world watching such
uncoordinated political jockeying (embarrassing enough to Americans),
but that Americans themselves are watching closely, in amazement, and
that history is recording these episodes as well... an embarrassment he
will one day share. Let's do the right thing while we have a chance,
and show that leadership is not a casualty of 9/11.
Individual Comment
Los Angeles, CA