R002334
Wednesday, March 20, 2002 10:14 AM
September 11 Victim Compensation Fund
To Whom It May Concern -
I was very disappointed and quite angry to find out that the September 11th
Victim Compensation Fund set up by Congress is advocating discrimination
against gays and lesbians affected by the tragedy. I hope that your offices
are inundated with mail and e-mail sent by other Americans who vehemently
oppose your actions, because what you are doing is unfair and un-American!
How can you offer benefits to illegal aliens - and promise not to prosecute
either those individuals nor their employers for breaking the law - yet you
deny benefits to partners of gay Americans?? How can you give funds to
unborn babies but not life-long partners?
I was so proud of my country in the aftermath of September 11th, because it
seemed for once we were all Americans - not African-Americans or
gay-Americans or Latino-Americans. I'm very sad to find that, in this
instance, Congress is clearly stating that some people are more "worthy" of
benefits than others.
The heterosexual victims of September 11th have that piece of paper - the
marriage license - which identifies them as the survivor. Homosexuals don't
have the same rights as heterosexuals - they have no "proof" of their
couplehood because the current laws (Vermont excluded) deny civil unions to
gays. Imagine how much worse the financial situation might be for some of
those folks. Imagine then being told that your partner, lover, and best
friend doesn't count because of your sexuality. This is blatant
discrimination and it is NOT RIGHT.
I sincerely pray that God will open your minds to what is the right thing
to do in this instance. You can't call or "heros"
one day and then imply that their lifestyle justifies the irresponsible
appropriation of funds that is being done with the September 11 Victim
Compensation Fund.
May God Bless you and open your hearts and minds with His loving grace for
ALL.
Sincerely,
Individual Comment