Regulations governing the fund were issued today by Special Master Kenneth Feinberg in a press conference at the Department of Justice. They provide that same sex partners will be eligible claimants but leave many of the details on final disposition of such claims to the Special Master, who will be using applicable state law as a guide. Based upon Pataki and Giuliani's advocacy for gay and lesbian surviving partners and a number of state and local laws that recognize domestic partnerships, the Pride Agenda believes that Feinberg will be making awards to gay families. The average award for each person killed is estimated to be in excess of $1 million.

"Without a doubt, the support of Governor Pataki and Mayor Giuliani was the determining factor in this historic decision," said Joe Grabarz, the Pride Agenda's Executive Director. "Several weeks ago we learned from sources close to the White House that our families would get consideration if the Governor and Mayor formally weighed in. We asked them for help and they responded immediately."

On November 27, Pataki and Giuliani - joined by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer - wrote to President Bush asking that the federal fund guidelines include gay and lesbian partners. (View copy of the letter here.)

"We're pleased that President Bush, Attorney General Ashcroft, and Special Master Feinberg listened to the leaders of the state most affected by this tragedy," Grabarz said. At the same time, we extend our thanks and praise to the Governor, Mayor and Attorney General for standing up for gay families in this critical time."

The Pride Agenda said that this was the first time the federal government has provided any type of recognition to gay and lesbian families. While Congress did recently pass a bill that allows the District of Columbia government to fund a program that will give domestic partners of city employees access to health benefits, that action did not involve the use of federal dollars. Today's action does. That the move occurred under a Bush and Ashcroft administration made it all the more remarkable. Attorney General Ashcroft was generally viewed as hostile to gay issues while he was in the U.S. Senate and in state government.

"The Department of Justice could have said 'no' on federal victim compensation dollars going to gay families by simply saying that only spouses and blood relatives are eligible for compensation," said Grabarz. "They did not -- and that in itself is truly groundbreaking for the federal government and for our community."

In addition to getting Pataki and Giuliani to push for gay partners, the Pride Agenda also successfully lobbied Senators Schumer and Clinton for their support and engaged allies in other states to bring pressure to bear on senators on the Judiciary Committee and other members of Congress. The organization also has had considerable success in getting private relief funds to treat gay partners equally with spouses and successfully persuaded Governor Pataki to issue an executive order granting gay partners the same Crime Victim Board benefits as spouses.

The regulations issued today will help address some of the inequities faced by gay and lesbian surviving partners due to lack of legal recognition of their relationships. For example, gay partners are not eligible for workers compensation or social security benefits available to spouses.

Last week, the Pride Agenda and other organizations announced a special fund - now with approximately $175,000 -- to help gay partners. Twenty-four (24) surviving partners have already been identified, and there may be as many as double that number. 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.)

An overview of the Pride Agenda's advocacy for gay/lesbian survivors of September 11 is detailed below.

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.

Results of Advocacy on "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001"

1. Letter to President Bush from Governor Pataki, Mayor Giuliani and NY Attorney General Spitzer requesting that gay and lesbian families be eligible for relief.
   
   
2. Letters to Attorney General Ashcroft from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton requesting that gay and lesbian families be eligible for relief. The Pride Agenda advocated with Senators Schumer and Clinton on this issue early on, which resulted in an October 31 letter being sent to the Attorney General from Schumer and a December 12 letter from Clinton.
   
   
3. 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. The Pride Agenda also sent separate comments to DOJ on November 16.