I WISH to express my disappointment with Portugal's Parliament for passing a bill allowing gay marriage. At the same time, I commend New Jersey's state Senate in the United States for defeating a bill that would have legalised same-sex marriage.

Marriage is an institution that predates civilisation, ordained by God, and exclusive to one man and one woman, who are given the responsibility to procreate the human race, to nurture, educate and pass on shared values and mores to their offspring. To redefine marriage to include same-sex couples is to strip marriage of an essential component, namely, the ability and obligation to procreate. This would render marriage meaningless and open it up to endless revision and redefinition.

Dr Francis Collins, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work sequencing the human genetic code, has stated that homosexuality is not genetically 'hardwired'.

Better for children

Not surprisingly, every credible study supports the fact that children do better in school, live healthier lives and become better contributors to society when raised by both a mother and a father in the same household.

As the basic expression of man's social nature, marriage can only be understood as the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

I am, etc.,

Paul Kokoski

pkokoski@mountaincable.net