Greece thus becomes the 20th country in Europe and the first Orthodox Christian country to allow same-sex couples to marry.
After a long debate, the Parliament of Greece has approved a bill that legalizes marriage between same-sex couples, a historic step that makes Greece in the first country orthodox christian of the world to legalize these links. The result was: 176 votes in favor, 76 against, and 46 abstentions. A historic victory for rights supporters LGTBIQ + which was received with cheers by spectators in parliament and dozens of people gathered in the streets of Athens.
The law grants same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children and comes after decades of community campaigning LGTBIQ + for equal marriage in a socially conservative country. The Greek country thus becomes the country number 20 from Europe and the first Orthodox Christian to allow same-sex couples to marry.
The archbishop Jerome II of Athens, head of the Orthodox Church Greek, has gone so far as to request that this Thursday's vote be nominal, forcing each deputy to express out loud the meaning of their vote, in order to increase the pressure.
«This is a historic moment"he declared to Reuters Stella Belia, director of the same-sex parents group Rainbow Families. The bill will become law when it is published in the official government gazette.
A divided Parliament
Although members of the center-right party New Democracy of the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis abstained or voted against the bill, gained enough support from the left-wing opposition in a rare show of cross-party unity despite a tense debate.
Recent opinion polls show that Greeks are divided on the issue. The powerful Orthodox Church, who believes homosexuality is a sin, has strongly opposed same-sex marriage, while many members of the community LGTBIQ + They believe the bill does not go far enough.
It does not remove obstacles for couples LGTBIQ + use assisted reproduction methods. Surrogacy pregnancies will not be extended to people LGTBIQ +, although the bill recognizes children who were already born through that method abroad.
In 2015, Greece allowed civil unions between same-sex couples and in 2017 legally recognized gender identity. Two years ago it banned conversion therapies for minors aimed at suppressing a person's sexual orientation.