Valuing the family, but inclusive to all.

Making the movement column by column, book by book.

You can check out my main blog here.

You can check out all of my books here.

Hollie Cavanagh has sadly left American Idol, even after two great weeks. The show was never fair to her anyway.

I now endorse Jessica Sanchez to win the prize. American Idol has never had an Asian winner in its past 10 seasons (can you believe it? especially when Australian Idol had an Asian for the FIRST winner), and has not seen a female winner for far too long.

Kim Kardashian is reported to be considering running for mayor of a L.A. suburb in five years' time.

Judging by the way her 'marriage' went last year, if she became mayor, residents would probably be wise to start packing up and moving as soon as possible.

Unlike your 'marriage', being a mayor is more than a stunt. Wake up!

There is currently a bill before the Californian congress that will require ex-gay therapy providers inform potential clients of potential harms. It will also prohibit the therapy from being used on those under 18, something which sometimes happens with parental request in some states.

We totally support and applaud this. Ex-gay therapy is known to be ineffective and very harmful potentially. Just like cigarettes, they should carry warnings on them. And allowing parents to force the therapy on their children is simply indefensible. We sincerely hope that one day this kind of legislation will be standard everywhere.

Crossposted from Tara de Jenien Official Website

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.

News of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's engagement have spread like wildfire over the internet. However, quite a few people have said that it is now 'meaningless' and that they should just get it over with if they want to get married, since they are already 'technically married'.

That's quite true, I think. Nothing wrong to celebrate your relationship, but this is more a renewal of vows than an engagement. Many gay couples who have been together for years only went to the registration office to register their marriage when it was opened up for them, I think this couple should do the same, and then do a renewal of vows thing if they want to. It's too late for a wedding, in the usual sense.

Another thing, no matter if you want a legal marriage or not, I believe it's always best to have a ceremony and make it official for everyone when you decide to commit. You will miss it if you don't.

A few weeks ago, I suggested a boycott on American Idol contestant Skylar Laine, due to her deer hunting habits.

I guess something else made me change my mind today - that she sang Born This Way on the show. She also did a studio recording of the tune, with all the lyrics intact! It is indeed an act of bravery for her, I guess, since her fanbase is mostly deep South.

In testimony to how homophobic America is, there were predictions that she was going to be eliminated afterwards, despite no fault in performance on her part. Luckily she was safe. It would be a shame if she went home now.

Today I started yet another website for myself. It will co-exist with the existing one, but have more of a professional feel and focus, and no social networking features to it. It is aimed at people who want to read about my ideas and my work but have less time for the entertainment features.

Visit the website here.

Tell me what you think.

This year's American Idol has been a mixed bunch. Not as good as last season, in my opinion.

One contestant, Skylar Laine, has had quite a good run so far. However, I just want you to know that she is a deer hunter, something that the show did mention, but some of you may have missed. In my book, hunting as a hobby counts as animal cruelty.

I suggest that anybody who feels the same boycott Skylar Laine by not voting for her.

Kelly Clarkson recently did a great performance of the great country hit You're Still The One by Shania Twain in a concert in Windsor, Canada. This isn't the first time she's done country music live. A few months ago she also did a country version of her own hit Mr Know It All.

This also isn't the first time I thought Kelly could make a great country singer. She's got it in her. I can't help but wonder if she chose pop-rock because of its better commercial potential in the first place. I mean, country is massively popular in North America and Australia, and nowhere else. Pop-rock is also popular in Europe and Asia. Whilst Kelly has had chart success all over the world, fellow American Idol graduate and accomplished country singer Carrie Underwood has virtually not been seen in music charts outside North America and Australia, despite probably receiving more awards that Kelly.

As a singer-songwriter myself, I never make music thinking about where the market is. However, I don't blame those who do either. It's entirely their choice. That said, if Kelly Clarkson starts to do country, I'm sure I'll welcome that decision, as will a lot of her fans.