Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, March 19, 2002 9:37 AM 911 Fund compensation disbursements TO: Staff of 9-11 Victims Compensation Fund.. I sent a message to your fund last fall urging that compensation money be made available to gay and lesbian partners of 9-11 casualties. I also contributed to the fund. I am unhappy to learn that the top management of your fund is making public statements indicating the fund will be guided by various state-level laws regarding eligibility and determinations of "next of kin." I do not understand why a federal agency would choose to follow the archaic and inequitable anti-gay provisions found in most state laws. If you are confused or unsure, then ask Congress for specific guidance. I am urging my congressional representatives to enact whatever law is needed to make sure that domestic partners of 9-11 victims receive fair treatment, regardless of their sexual orientation, marital status, etc. There are many methods the Fund could use to determine that Partner X was a committed life partner of Victim Z - for example, if X is named as the main beneficiary in Z's will, life insurance or bank account, that should be construed as evidence of being "next of kin." If X has shared a postal address or telephone number with Z for at least a year, that also, should be considered evidence of cohabitation and "next of kin" status. Far too often, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people are shunned by their biological relatives for many years --- until death occurs. Then the "bereaved" rush forward to collect the assets left behind by the person they more or less disowned in life. The 9-11 events should reinforce our commitment to freedom and justice. Please don't perpetuate and expand the prejudice found in our Social Security system and many other aspects of U.S. government. Please don't dishonor the memory of , and the scores of other less well-known GLBT people who died on that day. Individual Comment Daytona Beach, Florida September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR002047.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-19