dojA001229.xml

dojA001229.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-12-06

Thursday, December 06, 2001 8:00 PM


To whom it may concern,

I am writing to say that I firmly believe compensation and financial relief for vicitims of the Sept. 11th terrorist acts should go to the partners and non-biological children of the gay and lesbian Americans killed in the attacks. Fairness in providing financial relief to survivors of these deceased tax-paying Americans is the right thing to do. Arguments against doing so are divisive and unfair to the memory of all of the victims of Sept. 11. The U.S. political system is based on equal rights for all citizens. Discrimination in death after such a terrible tragedy is not the right message to send to the survivors of the deceased or to Americans at large. It would go against the grain of all tenets of basic fairness and equality.

Finally, as has been publicized in the media, at least one of the passengers who rushed the hijackers on the Pennsylvania plane (i.e., ) was a gay man. He gave the last moments of his life to save other Americans. And in this matter, he was successful in preventing an even larger tragedy and even more deaths. It is only fitting that legacy also be honored in such an act of basic fairness as that involved in providing relief to survivors and not discriminating among the survivors.

Sincerely,
Individual Comment

2001-12-06