Athens, Feb 15 (EFE).- Greece’s conservative government got parliament to approve same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples on Thursday, despite frontal opposition from the influential Orthodox Church.
With 176 votes in favor, 76 against and 2 abstentions, the reform was easily approved with the votes of several opposition parties, as some of the 158 deputies of the ruling party, the conservative New Democracy (ND), voted against the bill, abstained or walked out.
Greece thus becomes the 20th country in Europe and the first Orthodox Christian country to allow same-sex marriages.
Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis allowed lawmakers in his formation to vote freely after the most conservative wing of the party opposed the measure.
The prime minister made the approval of equal marriage one of his main campaign promises in the June 2023 election, which he won handily, and kept his word despite fierce opposition from the highly influential Orthodox Church.
Mitsotakis repeatedly called on the Orthodox Church not to interfere in state affairs, even invoking a biblical passage in Thursday’s parliamentary debate: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”
Greece has recognized civil unions for same-sex couples since 2015, but without the same rights as heterosexual marriages and the prime minister argued that the reform will put an end to legal inconsistencies that affect many families.
For example, with the new legislation same-sex couples would have greater peace of mind as they would no longer have to worry about losing custody of their children in certain circumstances.
Lio Emmanouilidou and her partner had a child six years ago through in vitro fertilization, but only she has parental rights and the Greek state considers the child to have an “unknown father.”
“Today is a day of joy and we are going to celebrate it properly,” she told EFE.
Emmanouilidou says she has already made all the preparations to get married to her partner and has set March 8 as the date for her wedding, rushing so that her partner can have parental rights over their son and they can be freed from the “enormous feeling of insecurity and fear” that if something were to happen to her, the child would be considered an orphan in the eyes of the state and would “lose both its mothers in a single day.”
However, she points out that the process will be “long and costly,” as in cases of lesbian couples who already have children the law requires the non-biological parent to adopt the child in order for her legal guardianship rights to be recognized.
LGTBI rights groups have celebrated the “historic” passage of the law, but some have criticized the fact that it does not address the approval of reproductive surrogacy.
The reform also leaves same-sex couples in limbo in terms of access to assisted reproductive treatments, Ekaterini Trimmi, member of the National Committee for Human Rights and lawyer for the organization “Rainbow Families” in Greece, told EFE.
Although the text does not refer to this issue, “it is understood that lesbian couples will be able to access assisted reproduction techniques” to form a family, “in proportional application” of the legislation that exists for heterosexual couples, Lina Papadopulu, professor of law at the University of Thessaloniki and one of the drafters of the norm, told EFE.EFE
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