R002014
Monday, March 18, 2002 4:14 PM
compensation for gay 9/11 victims
To: Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs
Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Director Zwick,
I am ashamed for my country on learning that gay 9/11 victims are being
denied compensation by the Department of Justice, while even fetuses and
illegal aliens are going to benefit. Since fetuses, under the law, have no
clear status as human persons, this decision sends a message that gay people
have even less status than fetuses. In other words, the United States
government feels it can decide whose lives are not worth bothering with, i.e.
"subhuman."
The problem with this message is that it eventually backfires on a nation,
leading to widespread and shameful crimes against certain groups of people.
Today, it is we gay people who are being officially devalued and declared
"subhuman" by the Justice Department. Tomorrow other groups will be declared
"subhuman" as well. It's a slippery slope that the United States government
ventures onto at its peril.
As someone of native American descent, I must remind you that, just a century
and a half ago, native American tribes were officially viewed as subhuman,
not worth any human-rights consideration, by the U.S. government, who carried
on a war of extermination against the tribes, even against native women and
children, with the official policy that "nits make lice". This policy led to
shocking atrocities and other types of crimes against native peoples during
the 1800s and well into the 1900s. Ditto African-Americans, Chinese, Jews
and other ethnic and religious groups, who were similarly denied all kinds of
personhood rights under U.S. law. The historical "nonperson" list is long --
it included women, people who were mentally ill, and others.
Spare us your excuses that you must consider the limits of state law. Any
intelligent person can see that the U.S. government takes this position on
the 9/11 fund because of political pressures from the religious right, who
want gay people to be denied any legal status as persons. Paradoxically, it
is also the religious right who demand that fetuses be given full status as
persons, so they can push ahead with their agenda of denying reproductive
choice to all U.S. women. I think it's pathetic and shameful that you, and
the Justice Department, would toady to the religious right in this way. It's
doubly pathetic and shameful because your department supposedly exists to
protect "justice" in America.
I hope you will have the courage to rethink your policy -- to resist these
political pressures, and grant gay victims of 9/11 the personhood of
benefits, equal to all others who receive them.
Sincerely yours,
Individual Comment
Beverly Hills, CA
FOR THE MEMORY OF:
And so many more...