Yes. You read it right. Dr. Thio Li-ann, a law professor from the National University of Singapore, who has been invited to teach a “Human Rights in Asia” course at New York University in the fall, doesn’t believe human rights extend to gays and lesbians. While serving in Parliament in 2007, Dr. Li-ann gave an empassioned speech advocating for the continued criminalization of homosexuality, which she called “a gross indecency.” She went on to say “You cannot make a human wrong a human right,” “Diversity is not a license for perversity,” and compared in intimate act between men to “shoving a straw up your nose to drink.” Watch the speech below:

Since NYU extended Dr. Li-ann the invitation, many students and faculty members have expressed outrage that she will be on campus teaching in the fall. In a comprehensive 18 point diatribe Dr. Li-ann responded to her critics, complaining of the abuse she has received since accepting the invitation. In the lengthy letter, Dr. Li-ann objects that her moral opposition to homosexuality has been characterized as “bigoted, ignorance or hatred,” and finds it “ironical” that those who claim to be oppressed are in fact the oppressors. Li-ann also said that most homosexuals in Singapore “lead quiet lives which is what most of us want.”

Let’s hope that when Dr. Li-ann arrives in New York, she gets the “proper” welcome she deserves. And no, I’m not being ironical.

As of midnight last night, gay marriages performed in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa, and for a brief time in California, will be legally recognized in the District of Columbia.

Gay activists hailed the development as an historic landmark for same-sex couples throughout the country and noted that it opens the way for the Council to pass a separate law later this year allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the District.

“I think there’s tremendous significance and opportunity in Americans seeing legally married gay couples treated with respect in our nation’s capital,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom To Marry, a national same-sex marriage advocacy group.

The recognition entitles gay couples to all the same legal rights extended to straight couples, including inheritance, and spousal immunity benefits.

And Maryland may soon follow. Governor Martin O’Malley on a radio program yesterday said he was open to having his state recognize gay marriage as well.

Sarah Palin’s attorney came out swinging this weekend , threatening legal action against bloggers and various media outlets for publishing fraudulent claims about the governor, who announced her intention to resign as governor last Friday.

Almost immediately afterwards [announced resignation], several unscrupulous people have asserted false and defamatory allegations that the “real” reasons for Governor Palin’s resignation stem from an alleged criminal investigation pertaining to the construction of the Wasilla Sports Complex. This canard was first floated by Democrat operatives in September 2008 during the national campaign and followed up by sympathetic Democratic writers.1 It was easily rebutted then as one of many fabrications about Sarah Palin. Just as power abhors a vacuum, modern journalism apparently abhors any type of due diligence and fact checking before scurrilous allegations are repeated as fact.

…

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as “fact” that Governor Palin resigned because she is “under federal investigation” for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those “responsible for the abuse of that right.” Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. “These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.”

Palin also went out on the offensive over the 4th of July weekend, decrying her critics through Facebook:

The response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the “politics of personal destruction”. How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country. And though it’s honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it’s right for all, including your family.

and Twitter (during the Sunday AM news shows)

Critics are spinning, so hang in there as they feed false info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again….

so I’ll make attempt to keep up w/attaching corrected info. I head 2 West AK villages today, look forward to their busy comm fish activity!

Trying to keep up w/getting truth to u, like proof there’s no “FBI scandal”, here’s link http://tinyurl.com/nzlae8 Thanks, AK!

Palin’s news conference announcing her resignation is presented in all  its rambling, uncomfortable entirety below. It’s a struggle but worth the scenic and family cutaways…

While there is cause for much celebration today  for the LGBT community in India, today’s landmark ruling only applies to the New Delhi… the nation’s capital. But it is progress…

Update: Contrary to initial reports, it appears the ruling DOES apply nation-wide.

The Delhi High Court ruled that treating consensual gay sex between adults as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India’s constitution. The ruling, the first of its kind in India, is not binding outside New Delhi.

Hours after the ruling was issued dozens of members of New Delhi’s gay community — some with rainbows painted on their faces and others holding signs that read “Queer and loving it” — gathered in the heart of the capital to celebrate.

…

But some religious leaders quickly criticized the ruling. “This Western culture cannot be permitted in our country,” said Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali, a leading Muslim cleric in the northern city of Lucknow.

Sex between people of the same gender has been illegal in India since a British colonial era law was issued in the 1860s classifying it as “against the order of nature.” According to the law, gay sex is punishable by 10 years in prison.

New Delhi is home to over 300 million people, nearly one quarter the entire population of India, so yeah, it’s definitely progress.