Mothers and Fathers of the Year Criticize Cohabitation Bill
A group of people named as the father or mother of the year, a title handed out annually to one of each, has written an open letter to politicians urging them to support the traditional family model of one male and one female parent.
“We are convinced that it is of the utmost importance during these nervous times that the leaders of our people should do everything in their powers to ensure the respect towards those ethical values which have for hundreds of years been the basis for the survival and growth of our people and which have helped us through the darkest times,” the letter said.
The letter calls on the Parliament, government and president to take a lead in supporting marriage and family values.
The group said the cohabitation bill, currently under debate in Parliament, is unconstitutional as it allows same-sex couples to register their families, adding that when the Constitution was made, the section on protecting families was written with a family of one mother and one father in mind.
The title of Mother or Father of the Year is handed out each year since 1998. The letter included 14 signatures, but did not include some of the more notable public figures who have been past reciepients, such as Singing Revolution icon Heinz Valk, government minister Urmas Kruuse, SDE parliamentarian Inara Luigas, and Rutt Šmigun, mother of Olympic skiers Kristina and Katrin.
Not all on the same page
Valk told Õhtuleht today he read the letter and chose not to sign. “The whole hullabaloo is about gays taking over somehow. There are not many of them. The traditional family will not go away.”
Only 15 fathers and mothers of the year signed, 14 initially and one more later on. As two of the 33 have passed away, simple math shows 16 did not sign.