R002480
Wednesday, March 20, 2002 7:14 PM
9/11 Victim's compensation fund
I am appalled at Kenneth Feinberg's comments during his Sunday,
March 10 appearance on Meet the Press, stating that gay partners of the
heroes of September 11th will not necessarily be eligible
for the same compensation as heterosexual family members who lost
their loved ones. So, in the end, pretty much everyone who died - including
people who aren't even American citizens and were living in the US
illegally - will be honored by the September 11th Fund as deserving of
America's special recognition and thanks.
The sole exception will be gay and lesbian Americans, because
Feinberg and the 911 Fund wouldn't want to do anything contrary to US law.
(Unless of course it involves an illegal alien who isn't even American -
then apparently it's okay to bend the rules.)
On this six-month anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon, Kenneth Feinberg and the September 11th Fund are
telling the American people that regardless of whether a gay man was one of
the four heroes on United Flight 93 who saved the US Congress and the White
House from utter annihilation, the 911 Fund plans to discriminate against
an American hero because most of the country sanctioned such discrimination
prior to September 11.
If September 11 has taught us anything, it's that our patriotism
and love of country transcend our differences and unite us all. It would
be ironic if the generosity of so many Americans in giving to the September
11th Fund were used to further divide us as a people, and send the message
to all
that some American heroes are more equal than others. This is an
affront to all of those people who died in this tragedy. I hope you will
take steps to immediately rectify this.
Individual Comment