National
Holder calls on LGBT attorneys to advance cause of equality
Att’y gen’l addresses annual gay lawyer convention
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
During his keynote speech at the LGBT Bar Association’s annual Lavender Law Conference, Holder said those in attendance are or will be “uniquely situated to use the power of the law” to create a more equal society.
“And you have not only the power, but – I believe – the solemn responsibility, to do precisely that: to safeguard the rights and freedoms of everyone in this country, and to carry on the critical but unfinished work that lies ahead,” Holder said.
Holder added as he looked around the room that he “can’t help but feel optimistic” about where the efforts of attendees will take the country in the months and years ahead.
The attorney general delivered the remarks before an estimated 1,000 people at the dinner, which took place during the three-day conference at the Washington Hilton in D.C. Attendees discussed the conference as they dined on steak and salmon dinners prepared by the hotel’s kitchen.
During his speech, the attorney general ticked off numerous accomplishments of the Obama administration on LGBT issues, including repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the discontinuation of defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court and working with school districts to investigate and address bullying. Additionally, Holder said the Justice Department continues to “fight for” passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination and an updated Violence Against Women Act with LGBT protections.
Holder cited a Connecticut district court’s recent ruling against Section 3 of DOMA as part of the fallout of the Justice Department’s decision to no longer defend the anti-gay law — noting the judge shared the Obama administration’s belief that laws related to sexual orientation should be subjected to heightened scrutiny, or the assumption they’re unconstitutional.
“Since then, we’ve seen an encouraging – and increasing – number of courts hold this provision to be unconstitutional, including a federal district court in Connecticut that found that Section 3 fails to survive heightened constitutional scrutiny just last month,” Holder said.
Holder was well received by the audience, which gave him a standing ovation both upon his entrance to the stage and his exit.
Jonah Richmond, a gay 25-year-old student at Vermont Law School, said seeing Holder’s speech was the “opportunity of a lifetime” because of the historic nature of the times on LGBT rights.
Richmond added he was stricken by Holder’s commitment to not defend DOMA and the attorney general’s willingness to cite his LGBT attorneys in the Justice Department to show “he’s very comfortable working with them.”
Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for Immigration Equality, was in attendance during the speech and expressed a similar satisfaction with the attorney’s general remarks.
“I thought the attorney general’s speech was fantastic,” Ralls said. “He did a great job of highlighting the work the administration has done on behalf of the community and highlighting that there’s work left to be done.”
After if anything was absent from the speech that he wished he heard, Ralls replied, “Immigration Equality has a number of outstanding asks to the attorney general and other Cabinet agencies. We remain optimistic that the record of this administration will continue in the direction of progress. We hope by the this time next year, we’ll hear about all the great couples that are getting green cards.”
Among the outstanding requests Immigration Equality has for the administration is placing the marriage-based green card applications for bi-national same-sex couples in abeyance so they can remain together in the United States without fear of deportation.
The attorney general’s full prepared remarks follow:
REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY BY ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER AT THE 2012 LAVENDER LAW CONFERENCE
Thank you, D’Arcy, for those kind words – and thank you all for such a warm welcome. It’s a pleasure to be here tonight, and a privilege to join with each of you – and with so many members of the National LGBT Bar Association – in celebrating and renewing our shared commitment to advancing the cause of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
I’d particularly like to recognize the Association’s staff and entire leadership team, and to thank them for all they’ve done to bring us together for this year’s Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair. For more than two decades, this important annual event has brought together hundreds of legal practitioners and law students from across the country. This conference provides an opportunity to highlight the extraordinary work that this organization’s members are leading and participating in every day. And it offers a chance to reflect on the progress that, especially over the past few years, each of you has helped make possible – and to reaffirm our determination to carry this essential work into the future.
Because of your dedicated efforts, you have made this year’s gathering the largest minority recruiting event in the country, and the most successful Lavender Law Conference yet – with over 260 employers in attendance, including multiple representatives from the United States Department of Justice. In fact, I’m pleased to report that tonight we’re joined by a number of senior Deparment leaders, as well as five United States Attorneys who are strong LGBT allies: Melinda Haag, from the Northern District of California; David Hickton, from the Western District of Pennsylvania; Amanda Marshall, from the District of Oregon; Stephen Wigginton, from the Southern District of Illinois; and Robert Pitman, from the Western District of Texas.
Through workshop sessions, career counseling, and panel discussions, this conference is providing a unique platform for mentoring and engagement among some of the best attorneys in America on cutting-edge legal issues. You’re helping to call attention to the obstacles and biases – in forms both overt and subtle – that continue to affect far too many LGBT Americans every day. And you’re encouraging collaboration, cooperation, and more effective advocacy as we seek to design and implement innovative strategies for confronting the most persistent challenges that far too many Americans face.
As Attorney General, I consider it a privilege to be part of this annual gathering, and to join such a diverse group of partners, colleagues, and friends in working to strengthen our nation’s legal community, and legal system. And as an American, I am deeply proud to stand with you in celebrating the remarkable, once-unimaginable progress that – particularly over the past three and a half years – your leadership and coordinated efforts have helped to bring about.
We’ve come together at an exciting moment. Thanks to the work of tireless advocates, activists, and attorneys in – and far beyond – this room, our nation has made great strides on the road to LGBT equality and the unfinished struggle to secure and protect the civil rights of all< Americans. For President Obama, for me, and for our colleagues at every level of the Obama Administration, this work has long been a top priority – and I’m pleased to note that it has resulted in meaningful, measurable, and enduring change. We can all be proud that, today – for the first time in history – those who courageously serve their country in uniform need no longer hide their sexual orientation. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the end of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," it’s worth celebrating the fact that so many brave servicemen and women can now serve their country proudly, honestly, openly, and without fear of discharge. We can take pride in the fact that, early last year, President Obama and I directed Justice Department attorneys not to defend the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. Since then, we’ve seen an encouraging – and increasing – number of courts hold this provision to be unconstitutional, including a federal district court in Connecticut that found that Section 3 fails to survive heightened constitutional scrutiny just last month. And we can be encouraged by the robust efforts that our nation’s Department of Justice is leading to ensure the vigorous enforcement of civil rights protections in order to safeguard LGBT individuals and others from the most brutal forms of bias-motivated violence. Thanks to the outstanding leadership of my good friend, Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez – and the dedication of skilled investigators, attorneys, law enforcement officials, and support staffers within the Department’s Civil Rights Division and throughout its partner agencies – today, this work is stronger than ever before. And our resolve to meet evolving threats with renewed vigilance has never been more clear. This past April, the Department issued its first-ever indictment for a hate crime based on sexual orientation under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act – a landmark measure signed into law by President Obama in 2009, which many of the people in this room helped to move forward – in relation to an alleged anti-gay crime in Kentucky. Since then, we’ve continued to review reported incidents that may fall under this legislation. Under this law, we’re working to strengthen our ability to achieve justice on behalf of those who are victimized simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And we stand ready to vigorously pursue allegations of federal hate crimes wherever they arise; to bring charges whenever they are warranted; and to support the efforts of our state and local law enforcement partners to enforce their own hate crimes laws. The Civil Rights Division is also taking the lead in bolstering our ability to educate and train federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials on sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination, in order to ensure that those who serve on the front lines are well-equipped to prevent, identify, and stop it wherever it occurs. Just last month, the Department filed an historic consent decree with the City of New Orleans to address allegations of discrimination and harassment by local police, including against LGBT individuals. In this agreement, and in our broader efforts to combat such actions, we have demonstrated the importance – and the effectiveness – of working closely with elected and appointed authorities to identify troubling practices, to correct patterns of repeated violations, and to craft policies and procedures that ensure the rights and freedoms of the citizens that our law enforcement officers are sworn to serve and protect. In recent years, we’ve taken significant steps to raise awareness about the role that community leaders, public officials, and educators can play in protecting a variety of vulnerable populations – particularly the youngest members of our society. And we’ve worked to expand and extend these protections to make certain that our children can feel safe in their homes, on our streets – and especially in our schoolyards and classrooms. As many of you know all too well, every school year, bullying touches the lives of countless young people. As we’ve seen all too clearly, it can have a devastating – and potentially lifelong – impact. In response, the Department has been collaborating with educators, administrators, and students in school districts nationwide to investigate and address this troubling behavior. We’re working with our partners – including federal allies like the Department of Education, under the leadership of Secretary Arne Duncan – to explore ways to stop harassment and bullying before it starts. In places like Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District – where an investigation found that some students faced threats, physical violence, derogatory language, and other forms of harassment on a daily basis – we’ve successfully engaged with school districts and advocates to resolve harassment allegations and lay out detailed blueprints for sustainable reform. As we move forward, we will continue to promote safe and healthy learning environments; to support a Student Non-Discrimination Act that would allow us to better address harassment and bullying based on an individual’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; to provide assistance to bullying victims; and to work closely with local leaders, parents, educators, and young people themselves to make certain that all of our students can feel safe – and free to be themselves – in school. Beyond these efforts, the Justice Department continues to support – and to fight for – legislative and policy reforms like an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would extend protections to LGBT individuals in all workplaces, and an updated Violence Against Women Act that would ensure that the law’s non-discrimination provisions cover sexual orientation and gender identity. Even in the face of extraordinary budget challenges, we remain determined to use every available resource to build the necessary institutional and legal frameworks to end harassment, violence, and discrimination – and to provide the safeguards that, for LGBT Americans, my fellow citizens, are long overdue. But my colleagues and I aren’t merely content to advocate, and speak out, for these changes and reforms. We understand the importance of leading by example. And that’s why the Justice Department – and a wide range of agencies throughout the Administration – have taken decisive action to help create a more inclusive work environment for our own employees. To strengthen our mission of serving all Americans by recruiting – and retaining – highly-qualified individuals, like you, who reflect our nation’s rich diversity. And to make a sustained and concerted effort to provide the opportunities, support, and respect that every aspiring public servant needs to develop, to grow, and to thrive both personally and professionally. No one understands the importance of creating such an environment – or has advocated more passionately on behalf of the LGBT community – than President Obama. Thanks to his leadership, this Administration has made historic strides in adopting inclusive policies and sending a clear message that the federal government is “open for everyone,” and that it is an employer that accepts and respects every potential employee. For instance, within the Justice Department, I launched a new Diversity Management Initiative in 2010 in order to expand and strengthen strategies and programs for promoting fairness, equality, and opportunity for every member of the DOJ family – which today includes an increasing number of openly gay or lesbian U.S. Attorneys – including my good friend, Robert Pitman – as well as senior Department leaders, U.S. Marshals, the keynote speaker at your Transgender Law Institute and three of the attorneys recently named to the National LGBT Bar Association’s “Best Lawyers Under 40,” and an extremely dedicated, and ever-expanding, membership of a wonderful organization known as “DOJ Pride.” Earlier this summer, we held a Department-wide training workshop for managers across the country – which was conducted by a nationally-recognized expert on diversity and workplace inclusion, Dr. Richard Friend – who discussed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusion as an imperative for effectively recruiting new talent and fully engaging all individuals in the workplace. In addition, the Bureau of Prisons has announced that every federal prison will appoint an LGBT representative to their Affirmative Employment Program, to help start a dialogue about issues facing staff members who serve in more than 120 facilities nationwide. Now, I believe these new actions and policies constitute promising steps in the right direction. But, like everyone here tonight, I also recognize that our journey – as a nation, and as a legal profession – is far from over. I know the progress we seek won’t always come as quickly as we might hope, or as easily as we would like. And that’s why, tonight, I’m not just here to thank you for all you’ve done to help bring us to this point; to highlight the Administration’s efforts in service of the same cause; or to celebrate everything that we’ve achieved together. I’m also here to ask for your continued help, to draw on your considerable passion and expertise, and to reiterate the Department’s commitment – and my own – to building on the momentum we’ve established, and ensuring that the recent successes we’ve seen are just the beginning. As current – and aspiring – leaders of the bench and bar, everyone here tonight understands what’s at stake. You realize how important every hard-fought legal victory – large and small – really is. You are – or soon will be – uniquely situated to use the power of the law, as well as your own gifts and knowledge, to help build a more fair, more equal, and more just society. And you have not only the power, but – I believe – the solemn responsibility, to do precisely that: to safeguard the rights and freedoms of everyone in this country, and to carry on the critical but unfinished work that lies ahead. Of course, this never has been – and never will be – easy. But as I look around this room, I can’t help but feel optimistic about where your efforts will lead us – and how far our collective commitment will take us – in the months and years ahead. With the benefit of your partnership and the strength of your passion, I know that we can – and I’m confident that we will – continue the work that has become both our shared priority and common cause. And I look forward to all that we will surely accomplish together. Thank you.
National
Long-time DignityUSA executive director announces retirement
Marianne Duddy-Burke has been with LGBTQ Catholic group for decades
The executive director of the world’s oldest LGBTQ Catholic organization has announced she will retire once her successor has been chosen.
Marianne Duddy-Burke has been with DignityUSA for more than four decades. She has been the group’s executive director since 2007.
DignityUSA announced Duddy-Burke’s retirement on Sept. 17.
Duddy-Burke during her tenure has urged the Vatican to do more to welcome LGBTQ Catholics. She has also, among other things, championed marriage equality and advised the State Department on LGBTQ-specific issues. (The Trump-Vance administration’s decision to freeze nearly all U.S. foreign aid shortly after it took office in January 2025 has had a devastating impact on the global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement and efforts to fight HIV/AIDS around the world. A report that Outright International released earlier this month notes 90 percent of LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world have lost funding since 2025.)
Duddy-Burke met with Pope Francis in 2023.
She traveled to Rome in 2025 for the papal conclave to choose the Argentine-born pope’s successor. Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago, succeeded Francis.
DignityUSA in the press release that announced Duddy-Burke’s retirement notes she expressed “particular appreciation to people who spoke honestly about the reality of being a queer Catholic or family member.”
“I have been inspired every day by your stories and have done my best to lift them up,” said Duddy-Burke. “It is your lives, your faith, your struggles, your hopes that I have strived to reflect in my work, and doing this has been a great honor.”
DignityUSA President Meli Barber praised Duddy-Burke.
“It is almost impossible to sum up the scope and depth of Marianne’s achievements and contributions to DignityUSA over her more than four decades of service,” said Barber. “Under her wisdom and leadership, DignityUSA has only grown in stature as an advocate for LGBTQIA+ Catholics and as a visionary thought leader for LGBTQIA+ ministry and spirituality.
“Marianne has been more than an extremely able executive director,” added Barber. “Her care for and ministry to chapters, her deep personal relationships with countless Dignity members, her connections to LGBTQIA+ Catholics around the world, the relationships she has built with other progressive Catholic organizations, her skill as a public representative, the respect with which she is universally regarded, and her tireless devotion to service all leave an indelible mark. It is not an exaggeration to say that she has shaped not only Dignity but a generation of LGBTQIA+ Catholics.”
Barber said DignityUSA will “soon begin a search for a new executive director.” Barber added Duddy-Burke “will assist with the transition.”
National
Multi-billion-dollar 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to continue until 2090
Married, same-sex partners are eligible for federal program
As part of its commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, a federally operated program, released information during the past week showing it has awarded more than $18 billion to over 77,000 9/11 victims and their families since 2011.
Officials with what’s now referred to as the VCF point out that it was created to provide compensation to individuals or to a court-approved personal representative of a deceased individual who were present at one of the three sites where the hijacked jetliners crashed.
Among those supported under the program are thousands of rescue workers, clean-up crews, and residents living near the World Trade Center Twin Towers destruction site who became ill, many of whom later died, by being exposed to the toxic fumes created by the fire and falling debris.
“Twenty-five years since that day, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund has served tens of thousands of victims and their families, and we continue to receive over 750 new claims each month — a clear indication of the ongoing importance of our mission,” said Allison Turkel, VCF’s leader, who holds the title of Special Master.
In a Sept. 2 briefing for the news media in advance of the 9/11 anniversary commemoration, Turkel pointed out that the VCF operation was upgraded and expanded by separate laws passed by Congress in 2011 and 2019, with the 2019 law signed by President Trump providing full funding to “pay all eligible claims and extended the filing deadline to Oct. 1, 2090.”
LGBTQ advocacy organizations in New York and nationwide have reported that during the time shortly after the 9/11 attacks same-sex surviving partners of 9/11 victims learned they were ineligible for compensation benefits because their same-sex relationships were not legally recognized.
Nicole Nava, a VCF spokesperson, told the Washington Blade that under long established VCF procedures, all applicants for benefit claims regarding a deceased person, whether same-sex or opposite sex, must be appointed as a Personal Representative of the deceased person by a state court. For D.C. residents, the probate division of the D.C. Superior Court appoints a Personal Representative.
“Claims for deceased victims (regardless of the cause of death) may be submitted only by the Personal Representative,” a statement on the VCF website says. “Each state has laws that define the process for appointment of the Personal Representative and the specific authority granted to that Personal Representative,” it says.
The Washington Blade couldn’t immediately determine the criteria for being approved as a Personal Representative by the D.C. Superior Court and various state courts, including whether a same-sex survivor partner would be eligible for such an appointment.
A spokesperson for the District of Columbia LGBTQ+ Bar Association, which includes many local attorneys who specialize in a wide range of specialized legal issues, couldn’t immediately be reached to find out if one or more of their members might be able to determine the same-sex partner eligibility for Personal Representative status.
VCF spokesperson Navas pointed out that the VCF regulations initially did not allow a legally married same-sex partner survivor to receive benefits under the VCF program because the then existing U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriage, prevented VCF from providing benefits to a same-sex partner survivor who had been married in their home state.
But Navas noted that the regulations changed in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and were further changed in 2015 when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Based on those changes, legally married same-sex partner survivors since 2013 and currently have been and are fully eligible for the VCF benefits.
The updated regulations would provide benefits to married same-sex partner 9/11 survivors in the states that legalized gay marriage beginning in 2004, when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. D.C. legalized same-sex marriage in 2009.
In her news media briefing, VCF Special Master Turkel said detailed information about how best to file a claim for 9/11 victim compensation is available on the VCF website.
“Twenty-five years since the events of September 11th , 2001, we know it has become increasingly challenging for claimants to find documents needed to prove their presence at an eligible location, which is one of the key requirements to be eligible for compensation,” she said.
She was referring to the requirement that 9/11 surviving victims seeking a claim for support for injuries or illnesses related to the 9/11 attacks must prove they were present at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon site, or the Shanksville, Pa. site where the hijacked jetliners crashed.
“Our team is committed to ensuring no claimant feels lost or overwhelmed when submitting a claim,” Turkel said at the briefing. “We have a great helpline with real live people who can answer or refer any questions that come in,” she added. “They engage in over 4,000 calls a month on average. We encourage folks to call 1-855-1555 with any questions.”
The VCF website, which has additional detailed information, can be accessed at www.vcf.gov.
National
Remembering the LGBTQ heroes of 9/11 terrorist attacks
25 years later, ‘the heartbreak remains strong’
Many in the LGBTQ community in the D.C. area and throughout the country were expected to join friends, co-workers, and family members this week in commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the New York World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and on the Pentagon just outside D.C. as well as the jetliner hijacking that ended in a fatal crash in an open field in Shanksville, Pa.
A total of 2,996 people died in the 9/11 attacks, including 19 terrorists who hijacked four jetliners whose passengers included Americans and citizens of many other countries.
Activists involved with local and national LGBTQ advocacy organizations recall witnessing a coming together of LGBTQ people and their co-workers, neighbors, and family members to support one another during a time of unimaginable horror and grief.
Among those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks was American Airlines co-pilot David Charlebois, an out gay man and member of the Gay Pilots Association, who was on American Airlines Flight 77, which the terrorists crashed into the Pentagon.
Also among the terrorist victims in the 9/11 attacks was gay public relations executive and rugby enthusiast Mark Bingham of San Francisco, who was among several passengers of the hijacked United Airlines jet who reportedly stormed the cockpit to regain control of the jetliner before one of the hijackers crashed the jet into the countryside in rural Pennsylvania.
The jet had taken off from Newark, N.J. with its destination being San Francisco. Investigators learned the hijackers turned the plane around and were heading to Washington, D.C., with plans to crash it into the White House or the U.S. Capitol.
The passengers, including Bingham, who stormed the cockpit and were among the 44 passengers and crew who lost their lives in the crash are credited by investigators and family members and friends with saving the lives of hundreds of others if the hijackers succeeded in crashing into the White House or Capitol.
Among the other LGBTQ people known to have lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks was Father Mychal Judge, 68, a gay Franciscan priest who served as a Catholic chaplain for the New York City Fire Department. According to the National Catholic Reporter, Judge rushed to the scene of the World Trade Center shortly before the Twin Towers collapsed. He was fatally struck by debris falling from the south tower while giving last rites to a fallen firefighter, the Catholic publication reported.
“He was a decent, wonderful human being,” said New York gay journalist Andy Humm, who had interviewed Judge for LGBTQ-related stories prior to the 9/11 attacks. “I saw him at many demonstrations for gay and AIDS causes, showing up in his Franciscan monk’s cassock,” Humm told the Washington Blade five years ago at the time of the 9/11 20th anniversary. “And he was equally beloved by the fire department, there at every major fire tragedy in the city, lending moral support to firefighters,” Humm said.
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministries, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic group that advocates for LGBTQ supportive policies within the church, reported five years ago that his group was supporting an effort to call on the Catholic Church to officially recognize Fr. Judge as a saint by canonizing him. But DeBernardo told the Blade this week that those efforts failed to obtain the needed support from various Catholic entities, including the Franciscan Order of Friars Minors, of which Judge was affiliated, ending efforts to canonize Judge as a saint.
DeBernardo has written a book about Judge’s life and legacy published in 2023 called “Mychal Judge:Take Me Where You Want Me to Go.”
Among the other widely reported LGBTQ victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were a gay couple from California, Daniel Brandhorst and Ronald Gamboa, and their adopted son, David, who were among those who died aboard the United Airlines flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. The Los Angeles Times reported that Brandhorst, an attorney, and Gamboa, the manager of a Santa Monica Gap store, had adopted three-year-old David when he was an infant.
For many LGBTQ residents of New York and the D.C. area, the suffering over the loss of loved ones, including same-sex partners, was heightened a short time later when they learned they were initially ineligible for local and federal programs aimed at providing financial assistance to survivors of the 9/11 attack victims because same-sex couples were not legally recognized.
At the urging of LGBTQ rights organizations, state and local officials in the New York and the D.C. area took steps to address the initial denial of financial support for surviving same-sex partners In programs under their control. Officials with a massive federal aid program for 9/11 survivors, however, said they did not have legal authority to authorize payments to same-sex partners.
The officials, in the administration of then-President George W. Bush, said the best they could do would be to leave it up to local authorities to determine whether state probate laws would recognize a same-sex partner as a family member for eligibility in the federal aid program for 9/11 survivors, many of whom lived in states outside the New York and D.C. area.
Nicole Nava, a spokesperson for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, a federally funded program established to compensate for physical harm or death caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including support for surviving family members, said she would inquire into whether same-sex surviving partners were being supported under that program in subsequent years in response to a request from the Washington Blade.
Jenny Pizer, an attorney for the LGBTQ litigation group Lambda Legal, which supported LGBTQ partner survivors of victims of the 9/11 attacks, said the information she and her organization had showed that many if not most of the LGBTQ partner survivors were unable to obtain the federal Victim Compensation Fund payment benefits that married heterosexual spouses obtained. She said she didn’t have a definitive answer on whether some LGBTQ surviving partners were compensated.
However, at least one case where an LGBTQ partner was compensated was reported by the Washington Post in a Jan. 22, 2003, news story about Peggy Neff, the lesbian partner of 18 years of Sheila Hein, 51, a civilian employee at the Pentagon, who was killed when the terrorist hijacked jetliner crashed into the Pentagon.
The Post reported that the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, under the leadership of its director, Kenneth Feinberg, approved an award of $557,390 for Neff in compensation for the loss of her partner. The Post story quoted a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign as saying, “It is our sincere hope that this signals that other gay families who have suffered the loss of a loved one will be treated similarly.”
The compensation program, which is operated by the U.S. Department of Justice, remains in operation until 2090. The Blade will report on any additional similar awards for LGBTQ surviving partners if Nava provides such information.
Events commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks were scheduled to take place this week at memorial sites honoring the 9/11 victims located outside the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., at the site of the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City, and the site of the jetliner crash in Shanksville, Pa., which is operated by the U.S. National Park Service.
The U.S. Congress in 2017 and 2021 approved separate bills signed by President Donald Trump during his first term in office and President Joe Biden creating the Global War on Terrorism Memorial and its construction, to be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. that’s scheduled to be completed in 2028.
The memorial, to be located near the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial close to 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., is intended to honor people who served and were lost in the wars and counterterrorism operations that followed the 9/11 attacks, including U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Longtime LGBTQ rights advocate Jay Fisette, who at the time of the 9/11 attacks held the elected position of chair of the Arlington County Board, which serves as the county’s governing body, was among the Arlington officials that came to the Pentagon’s grounds in Arlington to oversee efforts by firefighters to rescue Pentagon workers on the day of the attack.
At an Oct. 7, 2001, 9/11 Day of Remembrance and Appreciation ceremony held in Arlington, Fisette expressed the views of many in the community in response to the 9/11 attacks.
“Tonight, our community gather as a family,” he told the gathering. “We gather in sorrow and in disbelief, in remembrance and appreciation,” he said. “But we come here, too, with resolve and pride. We come together as Arlingtonians who love our country, as Americans who love our country,” he said.
“Our enemies may hurt our bodies and destroy our buildings, but they will never defeat our determination to make this a world of peace and a community in which our children grow up safe and secure,” Fissette said.
Although some of the same-sex partners of those killed in the 9/11 attacks faced obstacles in obtaining financial support through the federal 9/11 relief program, Tom Hay, the surviving partner of 14 years of American Airlines pilot David Charlebois was treated with respect and honor by American Airlines officials and colleagues at Charlebois’s funeral mass at D.C.’s St. Matthew Cathedral.
More than a dozen uniformed company pilots and flight attendants attended the mass. And a press release issued by American Airlines mentioned Charlebois’s relationship with Hay and told how Hay stood with Charlebois when Charlebois advocated for equal rights for LGBTQ people in the airline industry through his involvement with the National Gay Pilots Association.
“David was an early member of the NGPA,” the American Airlines statement said. “His contribution helped ensure ongoing progress toward fairness and solidarity.”
Activists in New York have said the 9/11 attacks drew attention to the need for legal protections for same-sex couples, including the need for recognition of same-sex marriage, which the U.S. Supreme Court legalized nationwide in its landmark ruling in 2015.
But LGBTQ advocates in New York pointed to the difficulties LGBTQ surviving partners faced when desperately seeking to find out if a partner had survived at the site of the World Trade Center attack where the Red Cross and other emergency relief agencies set up a station near the site of the attack.
“Literally, gay people had to go there, turn around, go back home, and get some paperwork that spouses didn’t have to get to prove a relationship existed,” said Ross Levi, who at the time served as executive director of the New York LGBTQ advocacy group Empire State Pride Agenda.
“You were nervous and scared and sad and then you had to go through that,” Levi told the Blade in 2011 at the time of the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. “And worse yet, other people turned them away, even with the paperwork, saying sorry you’re not a family according to our guidelines.”
Activists said New York City and New York State officials quickly recognized the inequities faced by same-sex partner survivors and took steps to change polices and laws to correct the situation. Among other things, New York’s then-Gov. George Pataki (R) issued an executive order in October 2001 that included surviving partners of gay and lesbian victims of the World Trade Center attacks in receiving full spousal benefits from the state’s Crime Victims Board.
In a separate development, the LGBTQ litigation group Lambda Legal, ESPA, the Human Rights Campaign, and other LGBTQ advocacy groups created the September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund to provide some support to surviving same-sex partners who were ineligible for help from the federal relief fund program.
“The terrorist attack on September 11th is a tragedy that touched every American, impacting people and families from all walks of life,” Jonathan Lovitz, the Human Rights Campaign’s Senior Vice President for Campaigns and Communications told the Blade in a statement this week.
“As in all moments in American history, LGBTQ+ Americans were there, and feel the impact of this day,” he said. “As we remember the lives lost 25 years later, the heartbreak remains strong and the work to ensure that every person can live safe from violence in this country continues.”
White House press pool pushes back after Trump bars three outlets
PHOTOS: Shenandoah Valley Pride
Long-time DignityUSA executive director announces retirement
PHOTOS: Walk and 5K to End HIV
PHOTOS: Wanda Alston Foundation Fall Reception
Gun reform is an LGBTQ rights issue
All the queer things to watch this fall
Parties, dinners, concerts and more on tap for fall nightlife
Jeremy Moss looks to bring LGBTQ advocacy from Lansing to Capitol Hill
