Mark Fiore: For the heroes at home

Celebrated as one of the fallen heroes of Sept. 11, Mark Bingham joined other passengers that morning to storm the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93.

A conservative public relations executive and rugby player, Bingham helped overpower the flight's hijackers, forcing the plane to crash -- not into the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House -- but into the Pennsylvania countryside.

Another hero, Father Mychal Judge, the Catholic chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, died as he lived. One of the first on the scene, Father Judge was giving last rites to a fallen fire fighter at the World Trade Center when he was struck by falling debris.

Above, in the still crowded skies over the Northeast, David Charlebois was co-piloting American Airlines Flight 77 when five terrorists took control the plane. The plane slammed into the Pentagon less than an hour after the World Trade Center had been struck.

The stories of Bingham, Judge and Charlebois are only three of the many accounts involving heroes and victims of Sept. 11. They are also three of the dozens of stories involving heroes and victims who were gay.

For much of America, these fallen fellow citizens, along with the thousands of other lost lives, have provoked powerful emotions of both longing grief and endless pride. But for a vocal minority of Americans, their sexuality -- and the sexuality of many of their partners -- has become a source of exploitation and condemnation.

The latest volley comes from the Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman and founder of the far-right Traditional Values Coalition, a radical religious organization that makes a habit out of denouncing gay Americans.

Angrily criticizing the American Red Cross and other relief organizations that have been providing aid to the surviving domestic partners of gay victims, Sheldon outrageously demanded that relief should only be given "on the basis and priority of one man and one woman in a marital relationship.

"This is just another example of how the gay agenda is seeking to overturn the one-man, one-woman relationship from center stage in America, taking advantage of this tragedy," Sheldon claimed.

As with much of his rhetoric, the reverend has things sadly backwards -- it is he and hypocrites like him that have taken advantage of a national tragedy to turn an issue of humanity into one of inhumanity. All Americans, regardless of sexuality, are seeking what they justly deserve.

Indeed, the Red Cross has expressly stated that it will provide aid to surviving domestic partners, a policy that other relief organizations are following. New York Gov. George Pataki also signed an executive order last week granting surviving partners of gay victims certain state benefits equal to those of the surviving spouses of heterosexual victims.

Such financial support is especially necessary -- and justified -- for surviving partners because gay Americans are barred from legally marrying. As a result, gay Americans who lost their loved ones on Sept. 11 are not eligible for Social Security or workers' compensation benefits.

Bestowing relief to surviving partners also humanely follows in the footsteps of many private employers, who by increasing numbers are providing domestic partnership benefits to their employees. The number of American employers offering domestic partnership health insurance benefits has increased by 50 percent in the last two years, according to a recent study by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Among Fortune 500 companies, 145 employers provided domestic partnership benefits in 2001, up from 61 in 1998.

These employers have rightly recognized that domestic partnerships are as valid as marriage between a man and a woman.

Problems, however, may arise in determining who precisely is eligible for benefits resulting from the Sept. 11 attacks. Far from all cities and states provide for registration of domestic partnerships, and even when registration is available, not all committed gay couples have registered as domestic partners.

At the same time, critics of domestic partnerships may argue that if the surviving partner of a gay victim is eligible for relief, a surviving heterosexual boyfriend or girlfriend should also be eligible for relief even in the absence of marriage.

These are valid concerns. But they are not insurmountable -- and they certainly do not justify blanket denials of aid. Indeed, eligibility is simply a matter of proof, whether that comes from registration, interviews with friends and relatives or other means.

Of course, none of this will satisfy Sheldon and such other misguided individuals as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who have laid the blame for the Sept. 11 attacks in part on gay Americans. Much of the nation justly rejected the ignorant accusation, with such conservatives as Rush Limbaugh and Arianna Huffington condemning the statement as "indefensible" and "an abomination." Even the White House was appalled, with a spokesman stating that President Bush "does not share those views."

Let us hope that in this time of national crisis, the enlightened thought supporting all Americans will only continue. As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a speech earlier this month, "We have to make clear that what we're fighting for is our values."

Mark Fiore is a third-year Law School student and a 1999 College graduate from Spring Park, Minn.

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