A Traditionalist Reluctantly Drafted for Social Justice

I am not the kind of person who likes change, naturally. A traditionalist who was reluctantly drafted into the progressive movement for the sake of social justice - this accurately describes me, and some other liberals I know of. We would love to protect tradition as much as possible, and would hate to see it crumble. We don't like change for the sake of change.

Yet social justice is required, and is a strong motivator. And for social justice, some things MUST change. Thus, reluctantly we get drafted onto the bandwagon for change, by our consciences.

There are indeed those who like change for the sake of change, but we are not those people, despite the depictions by our opponents. In fact, we see that we would have likely been very much like our opponents, if not for a bit of extra thinking and conscience.

Limousine Liberals have No Right to Criticize my Liberal Credentials

Many limousine liberals have taken to questioning my liberal credentials whilst not doing much useful themselves. They generally target my support for divorce reform, abstinence-based (not abstinence only) sex-ed, calls for Hollywood to discourage drug use, and especially my assertion that I believe recreational drugs have no positives at all. They like to argue for the sake of arguing.

How many would, however, stand up for campaigning to make government the last employer of guarantee? This would solve unemployment forever. And many people need it. It's not like limousine liberals would ever be long-term unemployed, so they don't bother with this.

And how about the hidden sexism in our societies - which becomes not so hidden when used against feminine males? Limousine liberals like to harp on about how women now earn the majority of college degrees, and get satisfied with that. Sexism still exists and remains problematic, just not by the numbers. Limousine liberals are, unfortunately, unlikely to have the guts to change things.

Limousine liberals are neoliberals who are very tolerant of lifestyle vices. They are not liberals who change things.

Tired of Hearing About Gaga Being 'Enlightened'

I'm frankly tired of hearing about how Lady Gaga is an 'enlightened' pop singer better than the rest. She's great for doing her part in marriage equality activism, but her songs are no better than the rest, really.

Some say Born This Way is the perfect example of 'enlightened music' today. However, not only are its lyrics cliched, one does not even have to think about it when listening to the tune. As I reported last year, even Tim Pawlenty can claim to be a fan of Born This Way.

At least you can't listen to Like My Mother Does without thinking a bit about family.

I was Weak, but Now I am Stronger

Next year marks ten years of my involvement in supporting LGBT rights. However, I was relatively weak for the beginning of this period. I would support marriage equality and adoption equality if I was asked these questions in the survey, but I never actively championed for these rights. Ten years ago, I was obsessed with maintaining the harmony in our communities, with not rocking the boat so the ‘way of life’ we enjoyed in the late 20th century would be maintained. For me, as long as the Islamofascists and the Christian fundamentalists both didn’t get their way, and everything stayed the same, everything was fine.

Now I understand that if we don’t fight, people will suffer. LGBT families are suffering, and if we decide to ‘not rock the boat’ or that ‘there are other priorities to address first’ they will continue to suffer. If we decide that Christian fundamentalists are worthy allies of ours because they are ‘pro-family’ and overlook what they are doing to LGBT families, they will suffer. Therefore we must fight.

Here are the four most important things which we must still continue to fight for, which I believe will define our movement in the next few decades, as good allies:
-Full marriage equality
-Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws everywhere (including trans-inclusive ENDA for the US)
-Full adoption equality
-The right for all trans people to have all their documentation match their gender identification (birth certificate, passport, drivers licence etc.)

All these battles will ‘rock the boat’. But so what? It’s what social justice demands.

Looks Like We're Heading for 10,000 Likes

The TaraElla popular culture blog seems to be getting popular in the last few months, which is great news for me. In fact its facebook page is heading towards 10,000 likes, the way things are going. Thanks for everybody's support!

I will say here again that I am doing this blog not because I am a Hollywood 'airhead', but because it's the best way to reach people and a way to start the conversation on important issues. I know this approach is not well-liked amongst many self-styled 'intellectuals', but frankly I don't care. I only care about what works.

First Post

This is officially the first post here.

It's only a coincidence that I chose April Fool's Day to start this website. No joke here.