Mexican Senator Jose Maria Martinez, who heads the Senate Committee on Family and Human Development, has called gay unions “a fad.”

In a Milenio Television interview, Martinez, a member of the conservative Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) Party, which holds pluralities in both houses of Congress, said same-sex headed households “are not a family” but a “marriage between persons of the same sex.”

“In terms of adoption, we must protect the rights of the child, in their own gender identity,” Martinez told En 15 (In 15) host Carlos Puig.

The Committee on Family and Human Development, installed on June 12, reviews legislation related to abortion and gay unions, which Martinez described as “a fad.”

Martinez added that he respects gays: “I am fortunate to have friends who are gay.”