The reaction of the Catholic Church to the Court of Final Appeal's decision to allow W, a transgender woman, to marry her partner was disappointingly predictable ("Church fears over same-sex marriage", May 20).
The Court of Final Appeal case was, as W's lawyer pointed out, not about gay rights but about gender identity.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church, in the face of developments which are leaving it behind in history, opposed the decision as it may "clash with the established concept of marriage".
Now it would take only a few Google searches or a short trip to a library to discover that there is no established concept of marriage, and with all due respect to the Reverend Dominic Chan Chi-ming, vicar-general of the Catholic Diocese, claims to the contrary come across as culturally arrogant and historically short-sighted.
I was also amused to read the comment by Kevin Lai Yuk-ching, of the Diocesan Pastoral Commission for Marriage and the Family, that sex and procreation are inseparable.
I believe the writing to be on the wall. Around the world Christians argued against giving women the vote, and against giving full citizenship rights to people who were not born white. Arguments drew on claims that to change the status quo would be to go against "nature" and the "teachings of God". And here we are again.
I respect that Catholics subscribe to the idea of marriage between one person born as a man and one person born as a woman. I respect their right to live their lives accordingly.