M E D I A   R E L E A S E


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.

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Remarks of Richard Haymes
Executive Director, The New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project

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.


CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FUND

All donations to The Family Fund should be sent to:

September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund
c/o The Stonewall Community Foundation
119 West 24th Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10011
212-367-1155

www.stonewallfoundation.org