17.12.2013 by David Gold
"In her winding-up speech on the Civil Unions Bill, which passed through its second reading stage, the Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties, Helena Dalli, said this [bill (D.G.)] sends a clear message for those in a minority due to their sexuality, showing that legislators are ready to be on their side and the government is being consistent with promises made to the LGBT community before the election.
"This is happening while the PN is taking a step backwards, which shows PN leader Simon Busuttil is less liberal than his predecessor, Lawrence Gonzi.
"Quoting a Catholic nun, she said the argument that gays cannot be a couple because their bodies do not fit together and they do not procreate reduces everything to a matter of 'plumbing'" (Malta Independent, 16 December 2013).
The argument that "gays should not be allowed to marry because they cannot procreate" does not withstand scrutiny:
1. Two married women can find a surrogate father, who would provide the sperm needed to impregnate one of the women, and two married men can find a surrogate mother, who would be impregnated with the sperm of one of the men.
2. Two married women or two married men can adopt children.
3. Since when is procreation necessarily a sine qua non of marriage?
3.A. If procreation were a sine qua non of marriage, a heterosexual couple wanting to marry would not be allowed to do so if one or both of them were infertile.
3.B. If procreation were a sine qua non of marriage, a heterosexual couple wanting to marry would not be allowed to do so if it declared that, though fertile, it did not intend to have children, say, if they were in their sixties, seventies, eighties, or older; or, believing that the world was overpopulated, they preferred to remain childless; or, if they were more interested in their careers than in raising children; or for any other legitimate reason they did not want children.
3.C. If procreation were a sine qua non of marriage, a heterosexual couple that was allowed to marry and had children, but all the children were stillborn or died young, would be required to divorce.
4. The purpose or purposes of marriage are whatever lawful purpose or purposes each married couple chooses for itself. In a country ruled by law, the government has the right only to prohibit marriages contracted for unjustified reasons. Inability or unwillingness to have children is not a justified reason.
There is no rational reason to prohibit two adult consenting women or two adult consenting males from marrying.
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