Current:Home > reviewsGreece becomes first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex civil marriage -FundGuru
Greece becomes first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex civil marriage
View
Date:2025-04-17 04:50:48
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece on Thursday became the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex civil marriage, despite opposition from the influential, socially conservative Greek Church.
A cross-party majority of 176 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted late Thursday in favor of the landmark bill drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ' center-right government. Another 76 rejected the reform while two abstained from the vote and 46 were not present in the house.
Mitsotakis tweeted after the vote that Greece “is proud to become the 16th (European Union) 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,” he wrote.
Scores of supporters of the reform who had gathered outside parliament and were watching the debate on a screen cheered loudly and hugged as the vote result was announced.
Earlier, people opposed to the bill had also protested nearby, holding prayer books and religious icons.
Opinion polls suggest that most Greeks support the reform by a narrow margin, and the issue has failed to trigger deep divisions in a country more worried about the high cost of living.
The bill was backed by four left-wing parties, including the main opposition Syriza.
“This law doesn’t solve every problem, but it is a beginning,” said Spiros Bibilas, a lawmaker from the small left-wing Passage to Freedom party, who is openly gay.
It was approved despite several majority and left-wing lawmakers abstaining or voting against the reform. Three small far-right parties and the Stalinist-rooted Communist Party rejected the draft law from the start of the two-day debate.
“People who have been invisible will finally be made visible around us. And with them, many children (will) finally find their rightful place,” Mitsotakis told lawmakers ahead of the evening vote.
“Both parents of same-sex couples do not yet have the same legal opportunities to provide their children with what they need,” he added. “To be able to pick them up from school, to be able to travel, to go to the doctor, or take them to the hospital. ... That is what we are fixing.”
The bill confers full parental rights on married same-sex partners with children. But it precludes gay couples from parenthood through surrogate mothers in Greece — an option currently available to women who can’t have children for health reasons.
Maria Syrengela, a lawmaker from the governing New Democracy, or ND, said the reform redresses a long-standing injustice for same-sex couples and their children.
“And let’s reflect on what these people have been through, spending so many years in the shadows, entangled in bureaucratic procedures,” she said.
Dissidents among the governing party included former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, from ND’s conservative wing.
“Same-sex marriage is not a human right … and it’s not an international obligation for our country,” he told parliament. “Children have a right to have parents from both sexes.”
Polls show that while most Greeks agree to same-sex weddings they also reject extending parenthood through surrogacy to male couples. Same-sex civil partnerships have been allowed in Greece since 2015. But that only conferred legal guardianship to the biological parents of children in those relationships, leaving their partners in a bureaucratic limbo.
The main opposition to the new bill has come from the traditionalist Church of Greece — which also disapproves of heterosexual civil marriage.
Church officials have centered their criticism on the bill’s implications for traditional family values, and argue that potential legal challenges could lead to a future extension of surrogacy rights to gay couples.
Church supporters and conservative organizations have staged small protests against the proposed law.
Far-right lawmaker Vassilis Stigas, head of the small Spartans party, described the legislation Thursday as “sick” and claimed that its adoption would “open the gates of Hell and perversion.”
Politically, the same-sex marriage law is not expected to harm Mitsotakis’ government, which won easy re-election last year after capturing much of the centrist vote.
A stronger challenge comes from ongoing protests by farmers angry at high production costs, and intense opposition from many students to the planned scrapping of a state monopoly on university education.
Nevertheless, parliament is expected to approve the university bill later this month, and opinion polls indicate that most Greeks support it.
___
Associated Press reporters Derek Gatopoulos, Michael Varaklas and Theodora Tongas in Athens contributed to this report.
veryGood! (5113)
Related
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- How Hallie Biden is connected to the Hunter Biden gun trial
- In cities across the US, Black and Latino neighborhoods have less access to pharmacies
- Cyndi Lauper announces farewell tour, documentary: 'Right now this is the best I can be'
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Hot air balloon struck Indiana power lines, burning three people in basket
- Claudia Sheinbaum elected as Mexico's president, the first woman to hold the job
- Jack Black responds to students' request to attend 'School of Rock' musical production
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Ticketmaster, Live Nation sued: Millions of customers' personal data listed on black market, suit claims
Ranking
- Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
- Jack Black responds to students' request to attend 'School of Rock' musical production
- Tesla, Ford, Jaguar, Volkswagen, among 289,000 vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
- Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and family sue content creator Fancy Macelli for alleged defamation
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Hot air balloon crash leaves 3 injured in Indiana; federal investigation underway
- Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and family sue content creator Fancy Macelli for alleged defamation
- Milwaukee schools superintendent resigns amid potential loss of millions in funding
Recommendation
Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
Bebe Rexha allegedly has fans removed from concert after throwing objects at stage
Brother Marquis of Miami hip-hop group 2 Live Crew has died at 58
MLB power rankings: Once formidable Houston Astros keep sinking in mild, mild AL West
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
Epoch Times CFO charged with participating in $67M money laundering scheme
New Jersey Democrats and Republicans picking Senate, House candidates amid Menendez corruption trial
In New York, Attorney General Letitia James’ Narrow View of the State’s Green Amendment