I endorse Obama for a Second Term

I endorse Barack Obama for a second term as US president, and therefore the most powerful man in the Western World.

My reason is that he has played this role very well, in my opinion. He has mostly used diplomacy and avoided the 'might is right' attitude of his predecessor George Bush. He has also shown the way forward on social matters, making progress on universal health care and LGBT inclusion.

It would be a shame for the US, and indeed the world, for him to be replaced by Romney, in my opinion.

The Religious Popstar who Rejects Hateful 'Doctrines'

When Australia singer and X-Factor judge Guy Sebastian first came onto the scene, his association with a 'mega church' in his home city of Adelaide was made a great deal of in the media. More recently, he has spoken up more on that. "People thought I had a certain set of beliefs, which were very narrow, which is the complete opposite of who I am. People were putting me in this weird system of beliefs and judgments I didn't belong in," he told the Australian press.

I guess it's a good thing that religious public figures should come out and reject that hateful parts of their religions publicly. This is important, for example because the anti marriage equality people love to claim that all religious people are offended by marriage equality. This is simply not the case.

Enforce Pre-nups - No Need for Covenant Marriage

I used to believe that there was a need for covenant marriage. After all, marriage is a contract that should have conditions of exit that suit the couple entering it. However, I began to sense that creating a separate category is unrealistic and elitist, not to mention very problematic in many ways. For example, an ultra-conservative government may decide to offer benefits exclusively to covenant marriages, something this equality-supporting person cannot agree with. I would suggest an alternative is to increase the legal standing of pre-nups, where couples entering marriages or civil unions can make their own exit conditions. If couples want restrictive exit conditions, they can specify it in the pre-nup. If couples want easy exit as an option by mutual agreement, they can also specify it in the pre-nup. That way all couples will have equal access to marriage or civil unions, and have conditions that suit them.

The Co-Parenting Agenda for LGBT Families - Why It's Important

LGBT families will be, by definition, different, and need their own solutions to many things. One is the possibility of co-parenting.

Co-parenting, i.e. a gay male couple and a lesbian couple teaming up to raise a family, is currently an uncommon but growing choice for LGBT families. One benefit is the presence of role models of both genders, thereby countering the claims of the religious right that such children are disadvantaged. Yet having four parents is definitely outside tradition, and seems difficult.

Co-parenting with four parents at once sounds difficult. But it may also be arranged as a combination of 2+2, with each child either predominantly under the care of the gay couple or the lesbian couple. For example, in a co-parenting arrangement with four children, the gay couple can take care of two and the lesbian couple can take care of two. The other couple will act as extended family.

Increasing co-parenting also has an LGBT-wide effect. Co-parenting helps integrate more gay male couples, who will mostly not have biological children in the foreseeable future, into the family framework. It encourages the LGBT community to become more family friendly over time. Therefore every family values orientated LGBT ally should support it.

New TDJ Book Series Now Available

I have just updated the new 'Tara de Jenien' book series. I changed a few volume numbers and a few things here and there to make the theme clearer.

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.