Madam - I wish to respond to a letter written by Ian Kelleher on the same-sex marriage debate (Nov 7th).
Firstly, Mr Kelleher maintains that "marriage is not a real thing: it did not exist before we named it". This is a category mistake that confuses the name with the entity being referred to, ie, the legally recognised public commitment of a man and women by which they become husband and wife. To argue that any entity, including marriage, exists only when it is named, is patently false since gravity, spamming and new species didn't spontaneously come into existence only when we named them.
Secondly, citing evidences from an exhibition on "gay relationships among more than 1,500 species" is totally irrelevant to the debate. This is because animals don't marry and thus the types of "relationships" they form are of no significance.
Furthermore, a minority of king penguins forming same-sex pairings is not only irrelevant but doesn't even imply homosexual tendencies, just as a lioness that forms hunting partnerships and co-operates in all female groupings doesn't imply lesbianism.
Thirdly, a committed relationship of loving, caring, cherishing and choosing an individual over all others is simply not "the meaning of marriage in our society" as Mr Kelleher maintains, for all of these qualities can equally apply to non-married cohabiting heterosexual couples. Yet they are clearly not married.
Finally, in the debate on same-sex marriage I believe it is time we looked at the rights of the overwhelming majority of fathers and mothers who love and care for their children. For to argue that a child will fare just as well with two mothers or two fathers as with their own parents, as same-sex advocates are forced to argue, is to tell each father and each mother in our society that their role is so insignificant that they can be replaced and that this won't affect their child in any way. In addition, this replacement is not even by someone of their own sex, but by someone of the opposite sex who assumes their role.
Surely this is a great disservice to the overwhelming majority of mothers and fathers who selflessly care for their children? - Yours, etc,
CLARE O'CALLAGHAN,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.