GREECE HAS BECOME the first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex civil marriage, despite opposition from Church officials.

A cross-party majority of 176 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted this evening in favour of the bill drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right government.

Another 76 rejected the reform while two abstained from the vote and 46 were not present for the vote.

Under the Greek constitution, single parents regardless of gender have been allowed to adopt since 1946 – but until now the second partner in a same-sex union was left out.

The new law recognises parental rights for same-sex couples, but will not allow men in same-sex relationships to acquire biological children through surrogate mothers in Greece.

Opinion polls have suggested that most Greeks support the reform by a narrow margin. The issue has failed to trigger deep divisions in a country more worried about the high cost of living.

The landmark bill drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right government was backed by four left-wing parties, including the main opposition Syriza.

Three small far-right parties and the Stalinist-rooted Communist Party rejected the draft law.

Supporters, waving rainbow banners, and opponents of the bill, holding religious icons and praying, held separate small, peaceful gatherings outside parliament today.

Ahead of the evening vote, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told lawmakers that “people who have been invisible will finally be made visible around us”.

“And with them, many children (will) finally find their rightful place,” Mitsotakis said.

“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 would confer 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 cannot have children for health reasons.

Polls show that while most Greeks agree to same-sex weddings, they also reject extending parenthood through surrogacy to male couples.

A key obstacle on same-sex issues in Greece has been the long-standing opposition of the Orthodox Church of Greece, which wields significant influence in the country’s society and politics.

In December, the governing body of the Church issued a circular to dioceses that strongly condemned same-sex marriage and adoption.

“Children are not pets or accessories,” it said.

“No social modernisation and no political correctness can trick the natural need of children for a father and a mother,” it added.

Under the previous leftist Syriza government, Greece in 2015 legalised civil unions for same-sex couples, becoming one of the last countries in the European Union to grant approval.

That law had resolved property and inheritance issues, but made no provision for the adoption of children.

In the EU, 15 states have legalised same-sex marriage and 16 permit adoption.

Includes reporting by Press Association and © AFP 2024