Greece legalises same-sex marriage and adoption

GREECE has become the first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex civil marriage.

The bill, which will also allow samesex couples to legally adopt children, was approved with 176 votes out of the 245 MPS present following two days of debates.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, said the reforms would “boldly abolish a serious inequality”.

The new law recognises parental rights for same-sex couples with the exception of surrogate births.

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 bill drafted by Mr Mitsotakis’ centre-right government was backed by four Left-wing parties, including the main opposition Syriza. Three small farRight 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 peaceful gatherings outside parliament yesterday.

Mr Mitsotakis told lawmakers before the vote: “People who have been invisible will finally be made visible around us. And with them, many children will finally find their rightful place.

“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 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 available to women who cannot have children for health reasons.

Maria Syrengela, from the governing New Democracy, said the reform redressed a long-standing injustice.

She said: “Let’s reflect on what these people have been through, spending so many years in the shadows.”

Church supporters and conservative organisations have staged protests against the proposed law.