A Mom. A Dad. A Child's Right.

A child has a natural desire to know both his father and mother, and to be protected and loved by them both. This desire is rooted in human biology, the human heart, and, yes, divine revelation --"Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother". This desire is a basic, fundamental human right. It exists in the human heart regardless of whether it is recognized by either courts or Charters.

There are many situations that fall short of this ideal. Divorce. Single-parenting. Abandonment. Human tragedy. There are social arrangements that are clearly "second-best" -- male/female adoption, and step-parenting, for example.

While many arrangements or relationships fall short of this mom-dad-child ideal, only one secures it -- the union of a man and a woman in a permanent relationship called "marriage". A traditional marriage safeguards a child's natural desire and right to know the love of a father and a mother.

A "same-sex marriage" that involves children nullifies this right. The two unions can only be considered equal if one blurs this distinction, or, as some have attempted to do, insists that "children actually don't need a mother and a father, they simply need 'parents'" (number unspecified). A same-sex union involving children denies a child either a father or a mother and places the child in a disordered home where they live with the absurdity of being told they have two mothers but no father, or two fathers but no mother. Unlike traditional adoption, this is something we cannot, and society ought not, celebrate.