Michael Briguglio (August 31) states: “It is indeed ironic that in a day and age of increased separations and divorce, couples who wish to marry are denied this right solely because of their sexual orientation”. He goes on to assert that “...recognition of same-sex marriages can lead to the strengthening of the concept of the family, through a process of social inclusion and recognition of different family forms”.

Such reasoning seems to imply that the only principles that guide the well-being and common good of society should be what minority groups want and the freedom for one to do what one feels inclined to rather than doing what ought to be done.

What makes Mr Briguglio think that by legalising gay marriages “the family concept is strengthened”? Shouldn’t society, rather than give in to the demands of minority groups, safeguard the true and lasting form of the family as has been accepted throughout time and as has been described by the Catholic Church as “a man and a woman united in marriage ... together with their children”?

This form of family “is the original cell of human society and is, therefore, prior to any recognition by public authority,” the Church asserts when commenting about the family in the Compendium Catechism. This is what the great majority of societies accept as a family.

By accepting other family forms and changing the true meaning of the family, we would be distorting what has always been accepted as the bedrock of society. An inclusive society is not a society that legislates for minority groups to live as they please. It is a society that accepts people as they are but sets regulations that help them grow into dignified human beings and safeguards the good of society at large.

Why are we trying to please everyone in the name of democracy and human rights? Leaders of political parties, in order to gain popularity and attract voters, are giving in to populism and abandoning basic principles and values that are so important for the subsistence of society.