Greece Becomes First Orthodox Christian Country To Legalize Same Sex Marriage

Greece is the world’s first Orthodox Christian nation to legalise same-sex marriage after the Athens parliament passed the reform amid scenes of both celebration and agitation in the nation. 176 parliamentary consensus voted in favour of the bill while another 76 rejected the reform. Two distanced themselves from the vote and another 46 did not show up.

The bill was promoted by the conservative government despite facing opposition from Greece’s Orthodox church. Resistance from New Democracy MPs was strong with former prime minister Antonis Samaras higgling the opposition. Samaras told the parliament that same-sex marriage was not a human right adding that the dangerous law didn’t deserve to be introduced.

 The new legislation grants same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt. The bill however leaves out the surrogacy rights for gay couples, a thing that makes the LGBTQ community assert that the bill’s not going far. Within minutes of the vote’s passage the Greek leader posted on X formerly Twitter: “The vote has passed: as of tonight Greece is proud to become the 16th EU country to legislate marriage equality. This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece – a progressive and democratic country, passionately committed to European values.”

Democracy party, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the law would confer same-sex couples with full parental rights. He said,

“The reform that we are legislating today … will make the life of some of our fellow citizens that much better without – and I emphasise this – taking away anything from the lives of the many.

“We are covering a gap by allowing everyone, if they wish, to institutionally seal their relationship … just as heterosexual couples do.”

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups also criticised the bill arguing that the bill left many in the community feeling traumatised. They argued that the Bill’s limitations allow only straight couples and single women to have access to aided reproduction.

“The legislation itself is so problematic and the language that we have heard so offensive that rather than wanting to celebrate, a lot of people feel quite numb,” said Elena Christidi, a psychologist and co-founder of the Orlando group which advocates for LGBTQI mental health services.

“It’s been devastating for gay men and trans people who want to have children … once again they’ve been left with the feeling that the state has judged them not to be good enough to have the same rights as others.”

In 2017, gender identity became legally recognized in Greece. Five years later, gender conversion therapy for young children was banned. Human rights advocates welcomed the legislation that legalizes gay marriages. Maria Gavouneli, president of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights told The New York Times  that the decision was “long overdue.”

Speaking about the new legislation, Stella Belia, founder of Rainbow Families, a group that supports same-sex families termed the move as a major victory that they’ve been fighting for years.

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