TADHG O'BRIEN,
Sir, - Contrary to John Skelly's interpretation (June 5th), nobody has the right to adopt a child, and as far as I am aware, nobody is claiming that such a right exists. In all parenting decisions it is the child's rights and welfare that must be paramount.
The Equality Authority's recommendation that gay couples should not be automatically barred from adopting solely on the basis of sexual orientation. In the real world many children have gay parents, and, in many cases, live at great risk due to the State's recognition of only one parent.
In an emergency, such children can be denied insurance or medical care. If one parent dies, children can be snatched from the arms of their remaining parent and put into foster care. This is a cruel and unusual punishment to inflict on an already traumatised child.
Much of the argument against allowing gay people to adopt claims it is not, as Mr Skelly puts it, "as nature designed". Such families are as natural as any divorced, widowed and reconstituted family; I believe two loving parents of the same gender are no more "flawed" than a single-parent family. Indeed there is nothing unnatural about being gay, for every population of human being has a significant and consistent proportion of gay people.
There are too many studies to cite in this space. Suffice it to say the overwhelming scientific consensus is that the children of gay couples are as well-adjusted as children of the traditional nuclear family. And many professional medical, psychological and paediatric organisations publicly support the right of gay people not to be discriminated against in parenting decisions such as adoption.
Mr Skelly claims that the non-traditional nuclear family is "inherently flawed", and that it is disingenuous to pretend otherwise". Would he suggest we enforce this philosophy on the heterosexual population? To do so would involve confiscating children from divorced, widowed and single-parent families and relocating them to more suitable family structures. This is the logical conclusion of such an argument, often touted by the same people who would have the audacity to describe gay adoption as "social engineering".
Back here on earth, families involving same-sex parents do exist, and their numbers are growing. We need to recognise this in Irish law to protect the rights of the child, as well as protect gay parents against discrimination.
It is nothing short of naive to pretend otherwise. - Is mise,
TADHG O'BRIEN,
President, Lesbian Gay
and Bisexual Society,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2.