ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s parliament approved a bill on Thursday allowing same-sex civil marriage, a historic victory for LGBT rights supporters that was greeted with applause from parliament spectators and dozens of people gathered in the streets of Athens.
The law gives same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children and comes after decades of campaigning by the LGBT community for marriage equality in the socially conservative country.
Greece is one of the first Orthodox Christian countries to allow such unions.
“This is a historic moment,” Stella Belia, president of same-sex parents group Rainbow Families, told Reuters. “It’s a day of joy.”
The bill was approved by 176 MPs out of the 300-seat Parliament and will become law when published in the Government Gazette.
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Although members of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right New Democracy party abstained or voted against the bill, it gained enough support from the left-wing opposition in a rare display of unity between the parties despite a tense debate.
“This is a very important step for human rights, a very important step for equality and a very important step for Greek society,” said Nikos Nikolaidis, 40, a historian who joined at a rally in support of the bill before Parliament. vote.
Recent opinion polls show Greeks are divided on the issue. The powerful Orthodox Church, which considers homosexuality a sin, has strongly opposed same-sex marriage, while many in the LGBT community say the bill does not go far enough.
It does not remove the obstacles encountered by LGBT couples in using medically assisted procreation methods. Surrogate pregnancies will also not be extended to LGBT people, although the bill will recognize children already born by this method abroad.
Elliniki Lysi, one of three far-right parties represented in parliament, called the bill “anti-Christian” and said it harmed national interests.
Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, a New Democracy MP, said: “Of course I will vote against. Same-sex marriage… is not a human right.”
LGBT groups gathered outside Parliament. One banner read: “Not one step back from true equality.”
“I am very proud as a Greek citizen because Greece is actually – today – one of the most progressive countries,” said Ermina Papadima, a member of the Greek Transgender Support Association.
“I think mentalities will change… We have to wait, but I think the laws will help.”
Activists have been pushing for change for decades, often going against the grain of the Church and right-wing politicians. In 2008, a lesbian couple and a gay couple defied the law and married on the small island of Tilos, but their marriages were later annulled by a supreme court.
But there have been some advances in recent years. In 2015, Greece allowed civil partnerships between same-sex couples, and in 2017 it legally recognized gender identity. Two years ago, it banned conversion therapy for minors, aimed at suppressing a person’s sexual orientation.
(Additional reporting by Valentini Anagnostopoulou and Karolina Tagaris, editing by Edward McAllister and Frances Kerry)
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