A001239
Thursday, December 06, 2001 10:13 PM
equal help for defacto spouses and children of the 09/11
tragedy
To: Kenneth L. Zwick, Director
Office of Management Programs, Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
In re: ?September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.?
As the wife of a man whose office (WTC, floor, Suite ) was destroyed
on September 11th, although he was not there and those who were in the
office luckily escaped, I write to urge that the Fund providing
compensation to individuals who were injured, or to relatives of those who
were killed, as a result of the events of September 11th be given to
partners and defacto children of common law marriages and lesbian/gay
partnerships as well as to the "legally" married. We are acutely aware
that in New York City and in the WTC towers there were a LARGE number of
"non-traditional families represented, including partnerships, both gay and
lesbian, of over 15 , even 30 years duration. These people are devastated,
as is everyone else, and they have even fewer social supports than many of
the rest of us to fall back on. Please include them in your financial
assistance and counseling help EQUALLY with others of more traditional
family persuasion. It is not hard to determine if a partnership is
enduring. All of these people have social friends and possibly churches or
other groups who can come forward to testify (or not) as to the nature and
length of the partener ship. Surely these partners and children are no
less victims of terror than the legal spouses and children of our more
usual social patterns.
I am therefore urging the adoption of rules that are inclusive of gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people and their attacks and I pray
that the Department of Justice will include among relatives eligible for
compensation those who lost
their life partners or de facto parents or children,
regardless of sexual
orientation or marital status.
Thank you,
Individual Comment
Plainfield, NJ