Greek lawmakers overwhelmingly adopted a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption on Thursday.
It was seen as a landmark victory for LGBTQ rights, as the bill was promoted by the conservative government despite opposition from the country’s powerful Orthodox Church.
The legislation will grant same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt; however, it leaves out surrogacy rights for gay couples, leading many in the LGBTQ community to say that the bill isn't going far enough.
Greece is now the first Orthodox Christian country, the 16th European Union member and the 37th country in the world to allow same-sex marriage.
"This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today's Greece — a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on X, formerly Twitter.
In a speech to lawmakers before the vote, Mitsotakis, whose New Democracy Party crafted the legislation, said, "For every democratic citizen, today is a day of joy.” He added that the legislation speaks to the nation’s democratic creed and its ability to make Greek society inclusive, affording equal rights to all its citizens.
The landmark legislation drew rare cross-party support, winning 176 votes late Thursday from four different parties in Greece’s 300-seat parliament. Three small far-right parties and the Stalinist-inspired Communist Party rejected the bill while 124 lawmakers openly opposed or abstained from the historic vote … most of them from the ruling conservative New Democracy party.
New Democracy lawmaker Maria Syrengela said, “Let’s reflect on what these people have been through, spending so many years in the shadows, entangled in bureaucratic procedures."
Eager to be eyewitnesses to history, hundreds of LGBTQ supporters camped outside parliament, breaking into cheers as the vote was announced. They unfurled banners and rainbow flags, as religious opponents brandishing bibles, icons and crucifixes huddled in an open prayer.
The bill was vehemently opposed by the Orthodox Church of Greece, which argued that its passage would have ramifications for traditional family values and that approving it could lead to surrogacy rights for gay couples.
Archbishop Ieronymos II, head of the Orthodox Church, said that a roll call vote should be held so constituents can see how lawmakers voted.
According to far-right party Elliniki Lysi, the bill is "anti-Christian" and will hurt Greek national interests.
Despite the opposition, polls show that most Greeks support the reforms. However, most Greeks also oppose extending parenthood through surrogacy to male couples.
Reforms for gay rights have been slow in the socially conservative country, but progress has been made in recent years. In 2015, civil partnerships became legal in Greece. But that left partners with children in limbo because legal guardianship was granted only to the biological parent.
Stavros Gavriliadis, an allergist and gay rights activist who is the biological parent of a boy he and his partner are raising, said since the child’s birth, his partner has not had the right to a lot of things, like going to pick up his son from school, or go and collect his report card or even in an emergency, admit him to a hospital. Gavriliadis said all of that changes now.
Gender identity in Greece became legally recognized in 2017 and in 2022, gender conversion therapy for minors was banned.
The move to legalize gay marriage was welcomed by human rights advocates.
Speaking to The New York Times, Maria Gavouneli, president of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, called the decision "long overdue.”
Stella Belia, founder of Rainbow Families, which supports same-sex families, said that it was "a major victory that we've been fighting for for years."
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
