Some conservatives claim LGBT rights aren't real rights. Others claim the United Nations is a heavy-handed institution that mires the U.S. down in international quagmires.

And still others claim both, like a Michigan man who this weekend penned an op-ed blasting the UN's recent resolution supporting global LGBT rights.

"Of all the horrific problems our world faces today that the U.N. can't seem to remedy, and they roll out this resolution with the fanfare of great accomplishment. Wars and wartime atrocities, human trafficking and exploitation of children, dictators pillaging their nations' coffers as their people live like rodents, and the list goes on," writes Mark L. Smith.

He continues, "Here's an institution that lends a soapbox to the likes of Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Moammar Gadhafi in downtown New York, just minutes from the site of the World Trade Center tragedy, no less!"

Despite Mr. Smith's ideologically-blinded argument, he does make one lucid point: "For those of you in the gay and lesbian communities that are cheering this momentous occasion, you may want to hold your applause. You might first conduct a few interviews with women and children of the Sudan, talk with a common Afghan family or survey the Rwandan populace."

I won't hold my applause for the UN resolution, as Smith suggests, but I will remind readers of Hillary Clinton's oft-cited quote, "Gay rights are human rights." And human rights are gay rights.

As we work toward equality here in the United States, let's not forget the suffering and inequity millions around the globe face everyday, especially as we head into the Fourth of July, a day meant to celebrate all that is good about American ideals: equality and justice for all.