ATHENS:
Greece
legalised same-sex marriage and
equal parental rights
for same-sex couples on Thursday as lawmakers passed a bill that has divided Greek society and drawn vehement opposition from the country's powerful Orthodox Church.
Although Greece became the 16th European Union country to allow same-sex marriage, it is the first
Orthodox Christian
nation to pass such a law.
Same-sex marriage is permitted in 35 countries worldwide. Greece extended civil partnerships to same-sex couples in 2015, but stopped short of extending equal parental rights at the time.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had pledged to pass the new measures after his landslide reelection last year.
In addition to recognising same-sex marriages, the legislation clears the way for adoption and gives the same rights to both same-sex parents as a child's legal guardian, whereas to date such rights have applied only to the biological parent. It would also affect the daily lives of same-sex couples, Mitsotakis told parliament Thursday, allowing those with children "to collect them from school, to be able to travel with them, to take them to the doctor."
The law does not provide same-sex couples with access to assisted reproduction or the option of surrogate pregnancies. It does not give transgenders rights as parents.
The bill passed with 176 votes for and 76 against in the 300-seat parliament Thursday after more than 30 hours of fiery debate over two days. Strong support from the centre-left and leftist opposition parties pushed the measure through. (Of the 300 members of the body, 254 people voted. Two of them voted present; the rest abstained.) Mitsotakis hailed the vote in a post on social media, describing the new law as "a milestone for human rights."
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