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Cheering in front of the parliament in Athens: The LGBTQ+ community celebrates the approval of same-sex marriage

Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki / REUTERS

The Greek Parliament passed civil marriage for same-sex couples with a large majority. The parliamentary presidency in Athens announced this late in the evening. 176 members of the 300-seat parliament voted in favor of the corresponding law presented by the conservative government under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In a rare cross-party consensus for Greece, left-wing as well as social democratic and conservative parliamentarians supported the motion. The 76 votes against also came from all parties. Mitsotakis had given MPs from his conservative ruling party New Democracy (ND) the freedom to vote according to their conscience. There were two abstentions. The parliamentary presidium said 46 MPs did not take part in the meeting.

“In Greece, no one should feel like a second-class citizen”

Previously there were sometimes heated discussions in parliament. Smaller ultra-conservative parties, which also represent religious zealots, as well as members of the ruling conservatives, said the law ignored the tradition of Greek society and the teachings of the Christian Orthodox Church. Mitsotakis, for his part, said: “In Greece, no one should feel like a second-class citizen. Today is a day of joy."

According to the new law, homosexual married couples will have the same rights and obligations as heterosexual couples. You can adopt children. Both receive custody, even if the child is biologically from one of the two partners. However, it should remain prohibited for surrogate mothers to give birth to children for homosexual couples.

There had already been massive criticism in advance from the ranks of the Greek Orthodox Church. Some bishops threatened the representatives of their regions to "think carefully about what they decide to do." The Orthodox Church is enshrined in the Greek constitution as the dominant religion and has strong influence over religiously oriented constituencies. Following the passage of the law, Greece will become the first predominantly Christian Orthodox country to allow civil marriage between people of the same sex.

czl/dpa