Letter: Stability first

Richard Lucas (Letters, 30 December) says evidence shows that "marriage is most likely to succeed between virginal non-cohabiting heterosexuals" and that "children fare better when brought up in a stable relationship".

There is no evidence that mixed-sex marriage is more successful than same-sex marriage. The percentage of civil partnerships that have been dissolved is much lower than the percentage of marriages that are dissolved. While civil partnerships are relatively new, many are between couples who had previously been together for many years - their previous cohabitation clearly hasn't made their civil partnerships less successful. We don't, of course, yet have same-sex marriage as such in Scotland.

The research evidence shows the children of same-sex couples do as well as those of mixed-sex couples. What matters in families is the quality of love and care, not the genders of the parents.

Tim Hopkins

Equality Network

Bernard Street

Edinburgh