Topic >> Singapore

Human rights professor invited to teach at NYU calls homosexuality “a gross indecency”

education, lgbt, video 5 Comments »

Dr. Thio Li-annYes. 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.


Singapore’s Pink Dot “freedom to love” rally a success

activism, lgbt, video No Comments »

Pink DotThis past Saturday marked Singapore’s first pro-gay rights rally Pink Dot, celebrating equality and the freedom to love for ALL Singaporeans. Drawing a crowd of over a thousand, Pink Dot provided a “platform for individuals, organizations and businesses to identify themselves as advocates of a more inclusive, more loving Singapore.”

From a speaker at the event:

We are born alone. We go to our graves alone. But there is no reason why any of us should have to live alone in this life … I support the freedom to love because I believe in love. Too many of my gay friends have left these shores because of intolerance. Let’s make a change today. My father is here too today to support Pink Dot. He too wants to make a change. Everyone, in the words of the great Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.

Watch this touching video from the event…

Also watch the amazing video promoting the event.


LGBT allies send message of tolerance and equality in new video

activism, lgbt, video No Comments »

Pink DotPerhaps one of the largest missteps in the No on Prop 8 campaign was not letting the LGBT community nor its allies engage in a “get to know us” dialogue through advertising and in the media. The new video below is a wonderful example of that dialogue in action, where our friends and families come together to send a message of tolerance and equality.

The video promotes an upcoming LGBT event called Pink Dot. You’ve probably not heard of the event because its all the way across the Pacific… in Singapore. While the event is thousands of miles away, it doesn’t make it any less moving, or any less relevant. Please watch….

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDdoT7opmrg[/youtube]

Via Queers United / akaWilliam.