For once, I have to side with the good doctor

Sir,

I’ve always found Marios Matsakis buffoonish at best, downright dangerous at worst, but I find myself siding with the ‘good doctor’ in the matter of his run-in with the “homosexual lobby” in the European Parliament (“Matsakis ‘intimidated’ by Europe’s homosexual lobby”, December 17). Some will say he was tactless in responding so forcefully to the initial emails inviting him to the “exhibition on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families”, but after all he’s entitled to protest after receiving emails – note the plural – he found inappropriate, and of course he’s entitled to his views on the subject. The activists who retaliated by plastering the walls of his office with posters advertising the exhibition were extremely rude and heavy-handed, in my opinion.

There’s a larger point at stake here, which is the subject of homosexual couples adopting children. Given the evidence that growing up in single-parent families can adversely affect children, it’s fair to ask whether the same may be true of other ‘unconventional’ family structures. Saying that same-sex parents love their adopted children is inadequate. This is a social issue, and needs to be debated without sentimentality and political correctness – which is not going to happen if those opposed to it are treated as bigots and homophobes. Mr. Matsakis has been a bully in the past, but he was the one being bullied this time.

Michael Demetriou

Nicosia