Partisan politics was put aside as the Log Cabin Republicans ( LCR ) and National Stonewall Democrats ( NSD ) sent a joint letter of public comment to the Department of Justice concerning survivor benefits for those killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Recently passed airport security legislation includes a provision for compensation of the survivors that will be overseen by a Special Master appointed by Attorney General John Ashcroft. He sought public comments regarding rules under which that person will operate, including who is eligible for those benefits. The Nov. 26 letter addressed those issues.
The two organizations pushed for vesting the Special Master with authority to determine eligibility "in a fair and equitable manner." They urged a broad interpretation of relationships and eligibility modeled after the executive order New York Republican Governor George Pataki signed Oct. 11.
They recommended that state law have jurisdiction, protecting existing gains in New York where the majority of survivors live. "However, if relevant state law is substantially different and does not account for consideration of broad criteria for evaluating relationships in a fair and equitable manner, the Special Master should be provided with the authority and be required to exercise discretion to resolve such disputes using the types of relationship" discussed in the letter.
The need for such "discretion" was brought home by a long article in the Nov. 25 edition of the Washington Post entitled: "Virginia Law Denies Benefits to Domestic Partners of Sept. 11 Attack Victims."
It told the story of Sheila Hein, who died in the attack on the Pentagon, and her partner of 18 years, Peg Neff. The families of both women have long embraced their relationship, and to Neff's surprise, the military has been consistently supportive.
"Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld's official letter of condolence came right out and referred to Hein as Neff's partner; and the counselors, chaplains and compassion officer assigned to help Neff navigate the process of retrieving Hein's ashes and obtaining relief have been uniformly helpful and friendly," noted the Post.
But it turned out that Hein "died in the wrong state." In contrast to Pataki's executive order, Virginia officials have stayed silent on the subject, leaving in place a law that limits victims' benefits to spouses, grandparents, siblings and children. Neff is struggling to make the mortgage payments and stay in their house. Survivors' benefits would make that possible.
Rich Tafel, executive director of LCR, said they began working with Gov. Pataki and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani soon after the attack to make sure that gay and lesbian survivors were treated fairly by the government. Pataki's executive order was the most visible assurance that they would be.
Tafel said he was "pleased" when recently hired NSD executive director Chad Johnson approached him about a joint letter, as relations between the two groups had been icy in the past.
Johnson said there was some initial hesitation from LCR but they soon embraced the idea that "the most powerful signal that could be sent would be a joint letter."
"We are first Americans, then partisans, and I can't imagine that anyone has ever contemplated the party affiliation of any victim or survivor," he said.
Johnson drew upon his experience as a lawyer to write the initial draft of the letter in a straightforward manner. Then he and Tafel sat down to review it. "We had to refine the wording but not the meaning," he said. Most of the changes where substituting words like "gay and lesbian families" for domestic partners, in the belief that they might resonate better with administration officials who will decide the matter.
Tafel said their tone of "being a resource" on this issue was appreciated by their contacts at the Justice Department. His sense is that the Department wants to avoid politics and will defer decisions to the Special Master.
The effort by LCR and NSD mirrors a bipartisan letter sent by 45 members of Congress Nov. 15. Rep Barney Frank organized the effort. "I consciously held off asking Democrats so that we would have a good ratio" of Republicans, he said. "We are trying to create a climate where it will be done" rather than create a gay-rights victory.