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Article: A federal nod to gay partners: will Peggy Neff's award from the federal Victim Compensation Fund help all same-sex couples win more legal recognition? (September 11).
- Article from:
- The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)
- Article date:
- March 4, 2003
- Author:
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A check for $557,390. That's what Peggy Neff received from the federal government to help compensate for the loss of her partner, Sheila Hein, a Pentagon employee who was killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Neff and Hein had been together for 18 years and shared a home in Virginia.
While the compensation, announced January 22, seems small compared with Neff's loss, its significance as legal recognition of a same-sex relationship is big. "It's the first time the federal government has provided economic relief to a gay or lesbian partner that approaches that of a married spouse," said Jennifer Middleton of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, ...