For Immediate Release December 13, 2001 September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund Set to Distribute Relief Assistance to Survivors Gifts in Recognition of Discrimination Faced by Same-Sex Life Partners
New York City, NY, December 13, 2001. With donations currently at $141,000, the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Stonewall Community Foundation today
announced the establishment of the "September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund"
to assist the surviving families of gay and lesbian individuals killed in
the September 11 terrorist attacks. The fund will be administered by the New
York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, and will be divided equally
among the estimated three-dozen surviving partners and their families.
Details about the fund were announced at a press conference where four
surviving same-sex partners spoke, and each was presented with a check for
$4,000. Depending on the number of individuals who ultimately submit a
claim, each gift will be between $4,000 and $6,000. Claims must be filed
with the Anti-Violence Project no later than January 15, 2002. (Applications
are available below and at www.prideagenda.org)
"Gay and lesbian life partners have been denied the bedrock government
protections -- like Workers Compensation and Social Security -- afforded
automatically to spouses, " said Joe Grabarz, Executive Director of the
Pride Agenda, the statewide civil rights and political advocacy
organization. "The community has come forward to make a token gift in
recognition of this." The Pride Agenda contributed $90,000 toward the fund
from the proceeds of its October 4 annual dinner where Mayor Giuliani,
Governor Pataki and LGBT police, fire and emergency response workers were
honored for their leadership during the World Trade Center crisis. (The
Pride Agenda also raised a $50,000 donation for the Twin Towers Fund, which
benefits the families of fire fighters and police officers.)
"Nothing can compensate our families for the loss of their partners or for
the exclusion from the government's safety net. We do want each of them to
know that the gay and lesbian community cares for them and understands all
too well the inequities they are facing at this terrible time," said Bill
Mattle, Executive Director of the Stonewall Community Foundation, a gay
philanthropic organization based in New York City. Mattle said that
individuals and groups from across the country had contributed $51,000 to
the fund.
"September 11 has highlighted the many obstacles and inequities that gay
and lesbian victims face because of the lack of legal recognition of our
relationships," said Richard Haymes, Executive Director of the Anti-Violence
Project, the nation's largest crime victim assistance agency for the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-affected community. "This
community fund is another very tangible way we can help them."
Since September 11, the Pride Agenda, Lambda and the Anti-Violence Project
have had success in getting private relief funds such as the Red Cross and
the United Way to treat gay and lesbian partners the same as spouses (see
below). In addition, Governor Pataki issued an Executive Order on October 11
granting same-sex partners the same benefits as spouses from the New York
State Crime Victims Board. However, gay partners are not currently able to
receive Workers Compensation and Social Security benefits as well as state
and federal line of duty death benefits. It remains unclear if same-sex
partners will be eligible to file a claim for compensation with the new
federal victim compensation program. New York's gay community has been
actively advocating that they be allowed to do so. Rules for that program
are due to be promulgated on December 21.
Stonewall Community Foundation and the Pride Agenda said donations to help
gay survivors were almost spontaneous and that no significant fundraising
effort had been made. "The response has been phenomenal," said Stonewall's
Bill Mattle. "Gay and lesbian people from all parts of the country called
and said 'I want to help' -- and they did. Even though we cannot begin to
make up for the discrimination, our community showed once again that it is a
strong community -- a caring community - and a compassionate community."
Bill Mattle of Stonewall continued, "The stories behind these funds are
truly heartwarming. We know of people that made and sold burritos to raise
this money, and that donated tips from a weekend of work. We know of gay
organizations and businesses that held benefit performances and dances to
raise these funds. And this happened all over the country - in Atlanta, in
Las Vegas, in San Diego, in Chicago and in countless other places. Our
community should be very proud of itself today."
Following September 11, New York City LGBT advocacy groups mobilized to
support gay and lesbian families affected by the crisis. In addition to
setting up the fund, they worked to ensure that gay and lesbian families
were given consideration for disaster relief assistance by both governmental
entities and private organizations, where possible. Lambda Legal Defense
and Education Fund is providing legal assistance to survivors and their
families.
Existing Government Safety Net Does Not Provide for Gay Survivors
This advocacy work became all the more important because the far-reaching
government programs set up as a safety net for situations like these -
namely Social Security and Workers Compensation -- are not available to gay
and lesbian survivors and their non-biological children. "These programs
provide tens of thousands of dollars annually to families upon the death of
a loved one and yet are not available to survivors in our community because
we don't fit the government's definition of 'family,'" said Grabarz.
"Legislation must be approved before changes can be made to these programs
and that will be a much longer road to travel," continued Grabarz.
Results of Advocacy with New York State
1. Governor Pataki's Executive Order granting surviving partners of gay
victims of the WTC attacks equal benefits to spouses from the state's Crime
Victims Board. This decision by the Governor has been lauded nationally for
its compassion and fairness and is being pointed to by policymakers and
newspaper editorial boards across the nation as how the Governor of Virginia
should treat gay/lesbian survivors of those killed in the Pentagon and how
the U.S. Department of Justice should treat gay/lesbian survivors when
determining eligibility for relief assistance from the "September 11 Federal
Victims Compensation Fund."
2. Letter from the Commissioner of the New York State Department of
Taxation and Finance to the Pride Agenda indicating that gay families will
be given consideration when funds are distributed from the State's "World
Trade Center Relief Fund." This fund administered by the state has raised
more than $35 million and is currently mailing out $5,000 checks to
survivors, including domestic partners and those who were financially
interdependent upon the victim.
Results of Advocacy with Relief Agencies
1. The American Red Cross in Greater New York's issuance of written
guidelines clearly stating that same-sex survivors are eligible for
September 11 family relief assistance and specific criteria for staff to use
when determining eligibility. With these guidelines, the Red Cross, the
largest and most prominent relief agency in the nation, became the first
such agency to provide detailed policies and procedures on how to respect
same-sex relationships when determining eligibility for disaster-related
assistance. The Red Cross just recently announced that all recipients of
the initial 3-month family assistance grant are now eligible for another 9
months and will be contacted by the Red Cross.
Federal Government's "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001"
A remaining question is whether the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund
of 2001" set up by the federal government to be an alternative to litigation
by victims' families against the airlines will be inclusive of gay and
lesbian families. Efforts in this regard include:
1. Letter from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer to Attorney General Ashcroft
requesting that gay and lesbian families be eligible for relief under the
"September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001." The Pride Agenda advocated
with Senator Schumer on this issue, which resulted in an October 31 letter
being sent to the Attorney General.
2. Letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asking that the
"September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001" be inclusive of gay and
lesbian families. On November 26 the Pride Agenda and other LGBT advocacy
groups signed onto a letter authored by Lambda to the U.S. Department of
Justice urging Attorney General John Ashcroft to act fairly in compensating
all victims of September 11, including gay and lesbian survivors and their
children. Issuance of guidelines by DOJ is expected to occur by December
21.
"Attorney General Ashcroft has the authority to determine which relatives
are eligible for support," says Lambda Staff Attorney Jennifer Middleton,
who drafted the letter from LGBT organizations. "The only fair and humane
response is to recognize all victims of this tragedy, including lesbian and
gay partners and their children, and to distribute the funds equitably to
all those who suffered losses."
Procedures to Apply for Family Fund Awards Announced
AVP, which has been providing crisis intervention, trauma counseling and
victim advocacy for September 11 gay and lesbian survivors, is accepting
applications for Family Fund awards. All LGBT families from across the
country who lost a loved one in the September 11 attacks are eligible. The
deadline for the submission of applications is January 15, 2002. Applicants
will be asked to demonstrate a mutually interdependent relationship with
their partner.
AVP's Richard Haymes said, "We will committed to conducting this process
with a minimum of red tape and to getting the awards out as quickly as
possible. The LGBT community here and all across the country has responded
to their brothers and sisters in need and we want to follow-through as
quickly as possible on their good intentions."
Volunteer attorneys from the Pride Agenda and Lambda will assist AVP staff
in reviewing the applications.
# # #
Remarks of Richard Haymes
Announcing the disbursement of the September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund
December 13, 2001
We are very honored to be administering the September 11 Gay & Lesbian
Family Fund, and we encourage all surviving same-sex partners of the
September 11 attacks to file an application.
In a few moments, Jennifer Middleton from the Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund will tell you about some of the inequities that gay and
lesbian surviving partners are currently facing because of the lack of local
and federal legal recognition of our relationships. But before that, I want
to talk about some of the successes we've had in overcoming some inequities
for our community in both private relief efforts and with at least one
government agency.
First, we want to recognize the United Way for immediately treating gay and
lesbian families equally in wake of the attacks. At the 9/11 Family
Assistance Centers, these funds were administered by Safe Horizons, and we
certainly want to thank them as well. It's also important to note that the
United Way and the NY Community Trust will be treating gay families equally
in the distribution of the over $100 million in relief funds that was
announced yesterday.
AVP - working with the Pride Agenda and Lambda - have also had success with
the Red Cross of Greater New York. There were problems with the consistency
and clarity of relief provided to same-sex partners in the beginning, but
after some very productive discussions, they have now established and
disseminated criteria, which specifically include lesbian and gay families
in their Family Gift program -- and we congratulate them for that.
Additionally, in our work with the Pride Agenda, we were able to convince
Governor Pataki to issue an Executive Order granting gay and lesbian
surviving partners benefits from the NYS Crime Victims Board that are equal
to those that are given to surviving spouses - amounting to $30,000 for each
partner.
And finally, we're pleased to announce that the State's World Trade Center
Relief Fund will also extend equal benefits to unmarried survivors who are
able to show that they were dependent upon their partners for at least half
of their income. This is all a good start.
However, for over 21 years, the Anti-Violence Project has been serving the
victims of violent crimes and their surviving same-sex partners, and we are
acutely aware of the obstacles faced by our community in obtaining equal
treatment and benefits. The events of September 11th have illuminated these
inequities as never before, and while we share in the grief and sorrow of
all of the victims and their loved ones, we are heartened that we're able to
ensure that in at least some areas, our families will be recognized as being
on par with everyone else's.
And finally, this fund, raised through the generous outpouring of gifts from
LGTB people from all over the country, above and beyond their giving to all
other September 11 relief efforts, is an illustration of our community's
sensitivity to the inequities we face on a daily basis. This generosity is
part of a longstanding tradition of community-care epitomized by our
response to the HIV epidemic. The Anti-Violence Project is honored and
humbled to be the administrator of this fund.
All donations to The Family Fund should be sent to:
September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund |