Tuesday, March 19, 2002 10:05 AM
Gays and the 9/11 fund
 

In recent interviews, the head of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (a fund created by Congress to help the families of those who died on September 11) has made clear that the partners of gay and lesbian heroes of September 11 will not necessarily receive the same benefits as the spouses of heterosexual victims of the horrible terror attacks.

EVEN FETUSES AND ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE COVERED!!!

Even fetuses and illegal aliens will be receiving benefits under this problem - heck, they've even promised to overlook federal law and NOT arrest and kick out the families of illegal aliens, nor will they punish American companies that hired illegals in violation of federal labor laws.

But when it comes to gay and lesbian heroes of the day -                      who helped bring down the flight in Pennsylvania,                       who died in the line of duty when the first tower fell, and                      who was                      of the plane that crashed into the                      (there are many more) - we are told the law is the law and no exceptions can be made.

If September 11 has taught us anything, it's that our patriotism and love of country transcend our differences and unite us all. We were told that September 11 was the day that "hyphenated-Americans" were no more, and rather than being Italian-Americans, African-Americans or gay-Americans, we were now simply Americans, all of us together as one American family. Apparently, that family just got a divorce.

The hyphens seem not to matter when our government wants to use our heroism to inspire others, but when it comes time to actually aid the families of those heroes, the hyphens come back with a vengeance, and it seems that some American heroes are now more equal than others.

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