dojR001522.xml

dojR001522.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-03-17

Sunday, March 17, 2002 6:30 PM
Victim compensation fund

March 17, 2002

Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530

Mr. Feinberg,

While I by no means consider myself to be an "activist," I feel I must take
issue with comments made by you on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, March 10,
2002. The comments I make reference to are those directed at Gay and Lesbian
AMERICANS whose partners perished in that terrible, unforgivable act of
terrorism on September 11, 2001.

During that interview, you indicated that surviving partners will not
necessarily be eligible for the same compensation as heterosexual family
members who lost their loved ones. Your rational behind this position seemed
to be that you were simply following guidelines on how individual states
addressed "domestic partnerships."

As I understand it (and please, by all means, correct me if I am wrong),
surviving family members of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS will be fully compensated,
but because you are following "State Laws," surviving gay partners are not
afforded the same consideration.

So let me get this STRAIGHT (every pun intended). This country, this land
that I love, the home of the free and the brave, gives more consideration to
an illegal immigrants surviving family members that it does to the surviving
partners and children and gay and lesbian men and women who perished?

Pray tell, how is it that a gay man or woman's life is less valuable than
someone who has entered this country ILLEGALLY??? If you want to follow laws
when deciding who deserves what compensation, why not take into consideration
FEDERAL LAW??

You sir, with all due respect, are an idiot.

Let me assure you of this. The gay men and women (with the exception of the
illegal immigrants) who went down with the towers that paid their taxes, bled
red the same as all the other victims. And their survivors hurt just as badly
as all the other survivors.

Actually, thanks to you and your draconian way of thinking, they now hurt
much worse.

I suppose this is just another example of "dubyas" philosophy of
"compassionate conservatism."

Thank you for you time.



Individual Comment
Gay Taxpaying American

2002-03-17