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 10:44 PM "...WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL" Being an loyal American, a tax payer, a registered voter, a Christian, a homeowner, a career professional, a contributor to worthy causes, a loving son, brother and uncle and a human being, I am outraged that gay and lesbian partners of those who died on September 11 are not automatically going to receive the same benefits as heterosexual spouses. The only difference between myself and the majority of American men is that I am gay American. The only reason why these benefits are in question is because we, as gay men and lesbian women, have no laws that acknowledge or validate our commitments as couples and loving human beings. We suffer the loss of a loved one just as strongly as a heterosexual man or woman. We are affected with the same financial and legal problems. Point being, we are the same. If September 11 has taught us anything, it's that our patriotism and love of country transcend our differences and unite us all. We were told that September 11 was the day that "hyphenated-Americans" were no more, and rather than being Italian-Americans, African-Americans or gay-Americans, we were now simply Americans, all of us together as one American family. Apparently, that family just got a divorce. The hyphens seem not to matter when our government wants to use our gay and lesbian heroes to inspire others. However, when it comes time to actually aid the families of those heroes, the hyphens come back with a vengeance. It seems that some American heroes are now more equal than others. In recent interviews, the head of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (a fund created by Congress to help the families of those who died on September 11) has made it clear that the partners of gay and lesbian heroes of September 11 will not necessarily receive the same benefits as the spouses of heterosexual victims of the horrible terror attacks. This is not acceptable to me as an American. Even fetuses and illegal aliens will be receiving benefits under this program. They have even promised to overlook Federal Law and not arrest or deport the families of illegal aliens. Nor will they punish American companies that hired these illegals in violation of Federal Labor Laws. But when it comes to gay and lesbian heroes of the day - who helped bring down the flight in Pennsylvania, - who died in the line of duty when the first tower fell, - who was of the plane that crashed into the (there are many more) - we are told the law is the law and no exceptions can be made. Then WHY are exceptions being made to fetuses who some people believe (and I'm not one of them) that they are not human beings until birth. WHY are exceptions being made to Illegal Aliens? They are not Americans. They have not paid taxes. They have not contributed to the American Dream. They HAVE abused the system for financial gain. Why should we allow them to 'again' obtain financial gain when gay men and lesbian women, who have paid their dues, are denied this privilege? And Yes, I do consider it to be a Privilege. Gay men and Lesbian women are Americans. We have Rights. We deserve "...with Liberty and Justice for ALL". But where is it? Sincerely, Individual Comment 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 dojR002282.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