Madam Speaker, I am quite prepared to say that homosexual couples could make good parents and that there are heterosexual couples who make bad parents. The difference between the common law relationship for same sex couples is that they still will not be able to adopt, in my view, but they will be subject to the discretion of the authorities.
However, married couples in my view should have the right to adopt. The danger with giving same sex couples the privilege of marriage is that in getting the legal status of marriage they might get the right to adopt children. I am not prepared to give them that right because if we give rights to one group we take rights from another. I am not sure that children, all things being equal, are better off under same sex parents as opposed to heterosexual parents.
However, nothing in this legislation so far as I can see, and I am not a specialist, precludes same sex couples from having the opportunity to adopt. The only difference is that the various authorities that carry out adoption procedures will have a certain amount of discretion that they might not ordinarily have with married couples.