Mothers and Fathers do matter #marref

High profile opponents of the marriage equality referendum often accuse those of us in
favour of a yes vote as undermining or rejecting the importance of a mother or father’s love – that
we spend our time plotting ways to undermine family and love and happy stable homes for children
of all backgrounds.
Far from corrupting family life, many of us, myself included, desire nothing more than to ensure that
generations of children to come enjoy the same loving, stable family life we were lucky to enjoy. It is
insulting to suggest that we believe mother or fathers don’t matter – in fact many of us were blessed
with mothers and fathers who supported us, loved us, cherished us and raised us with the love and
care all children should receive. The difference, it seems, between our appreciation of our parents
and the no campaign’s is that we don’t reduce our parents to nothing but their genitals.
My mother and father matter because they love me.
My mother and father matter because they raised me with kindness and compassion – with
acceptance and understanding.
My mother and father matter because like all loving parents, regardless of gender, their children
matter to them more than anything else on this earth.
When I look back on my childhood with gratitude, it is not because my father is a man and my
mother is a woman – it is because my loving parents, regardless of gender, provided a nurturing,
playful and safe home where I was free to develop freely and happily into the woman I am today.
If only the no side could see people and parents as more than just their biology.