A factitious change of the definition of a thing does not change the nature of a thing, even if it is done by Parliament.Personal relationships, heterosexual or homosexual, are a private matter, not a public one. They are of no interest to society as such.Same-sex marriages are and remain just personal relationships, a private matter. They lack the social dimension.Unlike traditional marriages, they do not produce new members for society: new future workers, taxpayers and soldiers.Looked at strictly, from a societal stand-point, same-sex weddings celebrate sterility, the discontinuity of human life, a future without blossom and an empty end.However, from a personal human point of view, I sincerely wish the marrying homosexuals a beautiful wedding day and a long and happy life together.

Kees de Leeuw, Mt Maunganui.