R001984
Monday, March 18, 2002 3:29 PM
compensation discrimination
To whom it may concern;
I was very distressed and angered to hear that the government is planning to
blatantly discriminate against the families of gay and lesbian victims of
the 9/11 tragedy via the compensation fund. It is a grave injustice that
needs to be addressed. A family is not necessarily determined by blood or by
marriage, but rather by who stands by you, nurtures and supports you,
throughout your life. Is the suffering of a gay or lesbian person following
the loss of a life partner somehow less because they lacked a contract with
their state declaring the official status of their relationship? Considering
that they are unable to legally obtain that document due to more misinformed
discrimination, this seems a very flimsy premise on which to carry out
further discrimination. Gay and lesbian people pay taxes just like everyone
else, so money derived from tax funds includes contributions from lesbians
and gays. If gays and lesbians are unable to benefit from the same fund,
they should be able to designate their taxes to benefit other organizations
that would more equitably distribute the funds. Please consider the
precedent this is setting: you are saying that gay and lesbian citizens do
not deserve the same rights as everyone else. This is absolutely
unacceptable to me and flies in the face of what this country is supposed to
represent. This is a policy more in line with the Taliban than a progressive
nation. Please reconsider this decision and offer compensation to ALL
families affected by this horrible tragedy. Thank you for your attention to
this matter.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment