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Law Extends Benefits To Same-Sex Couples
Firefighters, Officers Killed on Duty Covered
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 26, 2002; Page A08
President Bush has signed a bill allowing death benefits to be paid to the domestic partners of firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty, permanently extending a federal death benefit to same-sex couples for the first time.
The new law allows a $250,000 federal benefit for survivors of public safety officers to be paid to any beneficiary listed on the victim's life insurance policy. The money has been available only to spouses, children and parents.
Gay activists had lobbied for the bill, and the Justice Department had objected to it, saying in a letter to Congress that the benefit had been designed for immediate survivors with pressing needs and that the bill was "likely to create unintended and unfortunate results."
The White House revealed the decision with a minimum of fanfare, sending a one-sentence e-mail Monday night, shortly after Bush had delivered a long-delayed speech outlining a new framework for Middle East peace.
David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay organization, said he hopes the new law will be "the beginning of government recognition that gay families deserve the same rights and privileges that non-gay families have."
Domestic partners are not included in other federal death benefits. Members of the military may leave the proceeds of their life insurance to anyone they wish, but government benefits -- including monthly survivor payments and burial assistance -- can go only to a surviving spouse or child.
The new law is named for the Rev. Mychal F. Judge, the New York Fire Department's chaplain for nine years, who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Judge, who ministered to gay Catholics and has been described in news reports as gay, had directed that the benefits go to his two sisters. It is retroactive to Sept. 11 and will apply in future cases. The fire department has told lawmakers at least eight other Sept. 11 victims had designated beneficiaries who did not qualify, including several domestic partners.
The White House e-mail said the new law "adds chaplains to the list of individuals eligible for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program and allows life insurance beneficiaries to qualify as eligible survivors for death benefits if a public safety officer has no surviving spouse or child."
Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, said the law honors the wishes of victims. "It is not a determination of legal status," he said. White House officials also pointed out that the law is similar to the government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which gives administrators discretion that could result in the awarding of benefits to domestic partners.
The announcement represented a rare case in which Bush was willing to take on the Republican Party's right wing. Indeed, the decision incited some conservative leaders, who already were displeased with Bush about issues that include his approval of campaign finance reform and support for a Palestinian state.
"Homosexual folks see this as a first step toward recognizing homosexuality on the same level as marriage, and that's what it will be used for," said the Rev. Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition.
Gay activists said that although the Bush administration has been surprisingly non-hostile to their issues, it also has avoided provoking conservatives by appearing too accommodating. White House officials held an unannounced briefing in April for the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group. The White House said it has recently provided similar sessions for groups including Jews and grocers.
Throughout June, gay federal employees have been allowed to use government buildings, and in some cases official time and e-mail, for events celebrating Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. At the Commerce Department, gay employees took a 100-minute weekday lunch break to watch "The Laramie Project," an HBO film about a theater company's exploration of the beating death of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student.
At the same time, Bush declined for the second year in a row to follow the lead of President Bill Clinton and sign a proclamation designating Pride Month. Some agencies cited that in refusing to allow their civil rights offices to sponsor events. Partly for that reason, a group representing gay Commerce Department employees has filed a complaint with the department alleging it has not followed internal regulations that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, said gay activists had feared Bush would roll back executive orders signed by Clinton that ban discrimination in the federal workplace on the basis of sexual orientation and bar the use of sexual orientation as a criterion for determining security clearance. The White House has made no move in that direction.
"This administration has remained studiously neutral on the issue of gay Americans," Birch said. "They realize they made some inroads in the last election. On the other hand, they're constantly monitoring their right flank."
Exit polls show Bush took 25 percent of the gay vote, a statistically insignificant increase from Robert J. Dole's 23 percent in 1996.
Conservatives had a mixed reaction to the new law. Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation said it sets a potentially expensive precedent. "Putting the stamp of approval on a deviant lifestyle should not be the mark of a conservative administration," he said. However, Michael Schwartz of Concerned Women for America noted that the new law does not say anything specific about domestic partners. He said the only way to avoid having them benefit would be to single out such arrangements.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...-2002Jun25.html
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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