The Editor, Sir:

Under no circumstances can it be said with legal or moral conviction that "When two women or two men live together in a relationship as lesbians or gays, they may be considered as a family. They may adopt children or have them through artificial insemination."

The family is the fundamental cell of society. The family - and through it, all human society - have their source and origin in marriage. Marriage is ordered to the procreation and education of offspring.

It can only be understood as the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. Children raised by gay couples are deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood and hence the opportunity for full human development.

Caesar Augustus, a pagan, sought to strengthen Roman society by outlawing adultery and sodomy and by encouraging traditional marriage and procreation He understood that there is such a thing as public morality.

Emperor Augustus saw this, but it was too late to overcome the sexual licence of the late Roman Republic. This was the real reason why it collapsed. I pray that Jamaica does not end up suffering the same fate.

I am, etc.,

PAUL KOKOSKI

Ontario, Canada