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Thanks to a private clemency bill introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein, Shirley Tan will thankfully be able remain with her partner Jay Mercado and their twin sons, at least until the Senate decides if it wants to address the bill, which could take up to 21 months, or through the end of this Congress in 2010. This grants a much larger window of opportunity for the Uniting American Family Act (UAFA) to pass which would allow binational couples to sponsor their same-sex partners, and allow Tan to legally stay in this country.
From Tan’s attorney Melanie Nathan…
Today Senator Feinstein introduced a very rare private bill on behalf of Shirley Tan; Shirley will not have to leave the USA for now and hopefully never. The essence of its introduction is that Tan does not have to leave the USA on May 10th, in terms of the voluntary order issued by DHS. This enables her to stay in the USA, legally, until the private bill passes ( a rare occurrence)- and if it does not come up for a vote then she can stay for the duration of this Congress’s session, which has approximately a year and nine months left. However Shirleys ultimate saviour will be UAFA and nothing else!
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A great big thanks from the Tan-Mercado family to Rep. Speier and her amazing staff as well as Sen. Feinstein and her staff, all of whom showed extraordinary care and diligence through the process. A special mention to the organizations that lent their support. Marriage Equality, Immigration Equality, Out4Immigration, Love Exiles and all the Media that remained so patient and supportive. Sen Boxer is sponsoring UAFA and we now hope that Sen. Feinstein will do the same as many many others are in as bad a predicament as Shirley Tan has been.
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When I spoke to Jay today she was crying with joy and said the whole family including the boys were absolutely overwhelmed with emotion. The news was conveyed to her directly by Senator Feinstein’s office. It has been a long and arduous process and so a very special thank you goes to Attorney Phyllis Beech, San Francisco and Fresno. I will write more later – but now I have to call and tell everyone the good news.
On tonight’s Miss USA Pageant, Miss California was asked by Judge Perez Hilton if other states should follow Vermont’s lead by legalizing same-sex marriage. Here’s her answer.
Miss California is actually Carrie Prejean, a junior at San Diego Christian College. Her favorite bible verse is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” That strength must have forsaken her tonight. Honestly I’m not sure how much of the judging is done in advance, but could her homophobic answer have cost Prejean the crown?
Some in the audience cheered, others booed. The answer sparked a shouting match in the lobby after the show.
“It’s ugly,” said Scott Ihrig, a gay man, who attended the pageant with his partner. “I think it’s ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are.”
Charmaine Koonce, the mother of Miss New Mexico USA Bianca Carla, argued back.
“In the Bible it says marriage is between Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!”
Blogger Interrupted ventured out yesterday and captured some of the teabaggery going on in Cleveland…
I’ve been doing video of right wing nutbags for a long time, but this one was the most disturbing event I’ve ever attended. The rotting racist rabid rump of Republicanism has been reduced to a twitching crowd of paranoids. I got harassed away by a growing mob of jackasses, some of whom are in this video. I tried to get the police to stop them, to no avail. After about a half hour of these thugs chasing me around the event, I just left. I’m sure they’ll show up here in comments to harass some more. But I got some stuff on camera, and now it’s on Youtube, because that’s how I roll.
In what many consider the liberal capital of the United States, 400 plus individuals gathered to protest increased taxation and government spending at San Francisco City Hall and outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. While the Tea Party movement proclaims to be party agnostic, the anti-Obama sentiment was palpable. If BOTH parties got us into this mess, as they purport, where were the anti-Republican signs and speeches?
The crowd was made up primarily of white males, definitely skewing older, with white women a distance second. People of color were rare and hard to find. There were the typical memes about the inexorable march toward socialism, the ills of more government and Obama’s administration taxing us all to the grave. There was also a subtle current of militancy (perhaps it was the Ron Paul supporters mingled in with the crowd) with cries for revolution, particularly among the middle-aged and younger. Those who were older perhaps more interested in holding on to their money than “taking the country back.”
There was also a notable lack of tea, despite the movement’s name. Probably for the best. The original meaning and motives behind the original Boston Tea Party have been lost in today’s events, which have been co-opted by special interest, Fox News and oddly enough, a host of Republicans. The original Boston Tea Party wasn’t about raising taxes, in fact the Tea Act of 1773 lowered taxes. Instead, colonists objected because they believed it violated their constitutional right to be taxed only by their own elected representatives. It had nothing to do with raising taxes. It had nothing to do with overspending.
But today’s events did present a wonderful opportunity to discuss ideas and solutions that might address our economic plight, but such discussions were woefully absent, constructive debate replaced with whining and complaining. The only solution gently hinted at was to take the country back by way of revolution.
And as for the teabaggery, thankfully there was none. At least not in the literal since. Which is a very good thing indeed.
Additional photos from the protest and a video below…
Thanks to a private clemency bill introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein, Shirley Tan will thankfully be able remain with her partner Jay Mercado and their twin sons, at least until the Senate decides if it wants to address the bill, which could take up to 21 months, or through the end of this Congress in 2010. This grants a much larger window of opportunity for the Uniting American Family Act (UAFA) to pass which would allow binational couples to sponsor their same-sex partners, and allow Tan to legally stay in this country.
On tonight’s Miss USA Pageant, Miss California was asked by Judge Perez Hilton if other states should follow Vermont’s lead by legalizing same-sex marriage. Here’s her answer.