By the way, I love the similey face at the end of that comment. It makes it so much more acceptable don't you think? No? No. Nor do I.

I'm one of those poofters (or 'whatevers').

I'm one who's married. And who, with my husband, has adopted two children. You might therefore understand why I'm just a little offended by your Council Candidate's remarks.

You see, I'm gay for the same reason I like the colour blue, love the smell of woodsmoke and hate beetroot. It's part of me. I believe God made me that way.

Certainly, no one persuaded me to like blue, I wasn't 'educated' to like the smell of woodsmoke, I wasn't indoctrinated by beetroot hating adults during my formative years.

The fact is I tried having girlfriends. I tried to conform to the 'norm'. Really, I did. But at the end of the day I just preferred men. And then I had the epiphany of meeting J, my partner.

At that moment my heart leapt. My head spun. My world suddenly seemed so much better, brighter, happier. It really was love at first sight and that love had grown, deepening and widening every day since then. J's two years younger than me, two inches shorter, just slightly wider and a big hairy man!

We 'married'. We then adopted our first child. A little boy, whose previous abuse had been such that he had lost much of the trust he had in women. We, a male couple, were a perfect match for him. Helping our son understand his past. Correcting. Reframing. Reinterpreting the horrors he had seen.

Our daughter, coming from a similar background, has enhanced and enriched our family to all our benefits, most particularly our son's.

Perhaps you can see why my offence is so profound at your Candidate's statement. He condemns my love for my husband. He belittles the love for my family. He makes everything that little bit worse.

And if Mr Lyndon Sullivan would like to shoot a 'poofter' I'd be very happy to offer myself as his target. (I'm hoping his aim isn't great) It would be worth the flesh wound to see how 99 of my gay friends would react to this being played out in front of them.

But then I came across this. Your interview with James O'Brien on LBC Radio yesterday morning. It offended me far more than the original comment.