Being gay might spell inequality in lots of ways, but one thing we sometimes have in common with straight people is the pressure from others to reproduce. Christmas and New Year seemed to be all about babies and some of the focus even fell upon Rich and me.

It all started innocently enough around the Christmas dinner table with a bit of family gossip about a cousin who had been in a committed, gay relationship for many years before leaving his boyfriend last year and then suddenly making the announcement he was to marry a woman called ‘Clare’. Were we all to believe that he had stopped being gay just like that, after 15 years of homo bliss? The news breaking out over the turkey on Christmas Day that his new wife was now expecting a child kind of provided an answer – there are surely gay guys that hit a certain age and for whom the desire to have children and start a family is enough to pack away their pink jockstrap and join the herd.

After this bit of information had been discussed the compass pointed to Rich and myself and the questions started about whether we would consider adopting kids at some point – blimey, don’t make me choke on my stuffing, I’m only trying to enjoy the food. I remember Rich telling me that when he came out to his Mum, her knee-jerk reaction to the news her son is gay was “you’re never going to give me any grandchildren then.” My own mother often laments her lack of any grandkids (after my brother, my sister and myself have failed to provide any) and certain friends have brought the subject up in conversation – don’t they realise that carrying a ‘gay card’ is meant to provide you with immunity from this kind of baby talk?

Things didn’t get any better on New Year’s Eve. The party I went to was a chance to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen for a while, and although none of my friends who were there have tots on the way, a couple of couples who I vaguely know were talking about expectant babies, plus one of my close female friends laughed how she is always pressuring one of our mutual, happily hooked up friends to have a baby. Then the question came: “So, would you and Rich consider having kids?”.

To turn things on their head for a minute, I think we’re all missing a trick here. Surely with the rapidly increasing population and over-crowding of our planet likely to become a major problem, we should be promoting our same-sex relationships as the ultimate low-carbon lifestyle – if you ain’t gonna reproduce, then you ain’t leaving a lasting carbon footprint. So, maybe the politicians would like to consider a much simpler and cheaper way to slow global warming than carbon trading schemes: go gay … and save the planet!