Madam, – Maghnus Monaghan (July 1st) is “aghast” at the new Civil Partnership Bill, which, he says, is a continuation of the Government’s obsession with an adult rather than child centred approach to family law.
Only “traditional marriage” he says, “vindicates a child’s right to be raised by, where practicable, a mother and a father”.
I would challenge Mr Monaghan to bring forward a child, adolescent or adult, who claims that it was deprived of its “right” to be raised by a mother and father, and who instead, had two same-sex parents imposed upon it.
What one does hear frequently is someone complaining that they were deprived of their right to be raised by loving parents/carers.
It is this that the new Bill tries to provide – a child’s right to have parents or carers who are happy in their relationship.
For only if the parents/carers are happy will the child be happy.
It is tiresome to keep hearing the argument that children have a “right” to have parents who are engaged in “traditional marriage” – as if a child’s happiness and maturity depended upon it. There are many who suffered precisely because their family was “traditional”.
The new Bill shows some recognition of this fact. – Yours, etc,
DECLAN KELLY,
Lindsay House,
Patrick St,
Dublin 8.
Madam, – I would like to ask Maghnus Monaghan (July 1st) how he proposes to tell the lovingly reared and protected child of a stable traditional marriage when they happen to grow into a gay or lesbian adult that, contrary to their belief, they are not to be treated equal to all others and are simply a second-class citizen? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Maghnus Monaghan (July 1st) appears to have distorted the meaning of “traditional marriage” and equated it with having children. Not all married couples choose, are obliged, or indeed have the option to bear children. Marriage is the union of two people in a stable committed relationship who love each other.
Children are often a wonderful addition but not necessarily an absolute must for a “traditional marraige”.
Such a distinction is important when there are thousands of families who do not subscribe to the stereotype of mother, father and children yet are blissfully happy. Equally, there are thousands of families who do subscribe to such a stereotype yet do not fit the picture of a “stable marriage” envisaged by Mr Monaghan.
A “family structure most conducive to the welfare of children” is one in which they are nourished and loved despite the make up of that family. – Yours etc,
SOPHIA PURCELL,
Rathgar Road,
Dublin 6.
Madam, – The debate over the new Civil Partnership Bill is being framed by the gay lobby within the terms of adult rights. There have even been attempts to draw parallels with South African apartheid and racial segregation in the US, attempts which owe more to an agenda than to any sense of historical perspective.
There is an irony in this sort of rhetoric. When homosexual acts were decriminalised the rationale given was that the State had no business interfering in any way with the private lives of citizens. Privacy was the core value. But the gay lobby have abandoned the privacy argument and are now looking for State sponsorship of their lifestyle arrangements.
And this is why framing the debate within the context of adult rights is so misleading. The only reason why the State has any interest in marriage is that it is an environment which, in the vast majority of cases, produces children who are, of course, the future of society. Not only this, it is also the optimal environment for a child to be raised in. Hence the reason why the State should offer incentives for traditional marriage for the good of society and of children.
The absurdity of applying the equality argument to marriage is that even if gay people could marry, marriage would still be a form of inequality. It would still discriminate against both single people and polygamous arrangements. The primary point of the State offering incentives for marriage should be to create and support children, and not to make adults feel good about themselves. Indeed matrimony originally meant maternity. — Yours, etc,
TIM JACKSON,
Teevickmoy,
Stranorlar,
Co Donegal.