This historic moment marks the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to pass such a ruling
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY GETTY IMAGES (VIA CANVA)
In a historic ruling, Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption. This news follows yesterday’s (15 February) 176-76 vote in parliament.
Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the new law would “boldly abolish a serious inequality”. Despite opposition from within his own centre-right governing party, Mr Mitsotakis has stood firmly behind the new bill.
Before the vote, he said: “People who have been invisible will finally be made visible around us, and with them, many children will finally find their rightful place. The reform makes the lives of several of our fellow citizens better, without taking away anything from the lives of the many.”
This new bill will also allow same-sex couples to adopt, and both parents will be recognised as the legal guardian. While the bill does not provide same-sex couples with access to the option of surrogacy or assisted reproduction methods, it does recognise children already born abroad through those methods.
The new bill was greeted with cheers from the dozens of people gathered in the streets with rainbow banners. Stella Belia, the head of same-sex parents group Rainbow Families, told Reuters: “This is a historic moment. This is a day of joy.”
Same-sex civil partnerships have been allowed in Greece since 2015, but legal guardianship of children was only given to the biological parent of the child.
There has been resistance from the Orthodox Church in Greece which has vocally opposed the bill.
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