I was dumbfounded to read that persons of the same sex who opt for a civil union will have the right to adopt children. I find that it intrudes on the rights of children. No one has the right to hand over children to a couple who will always carry a certain stigma, whatever anyone calls them.

I am all in favour of these couples being given the right to join in a civil union. Their choice and tastes in life are the result of their natural inclination and can rarely be changed. But to involve other persons – and children are persons – in these matters is in my reasoning horrific and should never be made legal.

The couple may be the best persons in the world, but when the children start socialising, whether behind their back or to their face they will be called names.

The introduction of the civil union law must carry on but children must be left out of it. No one has the right to involve them.