Greece has passed a law allowing marriage and adoption for all. A first for an Orthodox Christian country, despite opposition from the influential Greek Church.
Opinion polls suggested that most Greeks support the government’s proposed reform. The issue has not sparked deep divisions in a country more concerned about the high cost of living.
The landmark bill was drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right government and is backed by four left-wing parties, including the main opposition Syriza party.
“People who were invisible will finally be visible around us. And with them, many children (will) finally find their rightful place.”Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told lawmakers before tonight’s vote.
“Parents of same-sex couples do not yet have the same legal possibilities to provide their children with what they need., he added. “They can’t pick them up from school, they can’t travel, they can’t go to the doctor or take them to the hospital. …This is what we are tackling“.
Surrogacy remains prohibited for homosexual couples
The bill provides full parental rights to same-sex married partners who have children. But it prevents same-sex couples from becoming parents through surrogacy in Greece – an option currently available to women who cannot have children for health reasons.
Maria Syrengela, a lawmaker from the ruling New Democracy (ND) party, said the reform will redress a long-standing injustice for same-sex couples and their children.
“And let us reflect on what these people endured, spending so many years in the shadows, entangled in bureaucratic procedures” she said.
The main opposition to the new bill came from the Orthodox Church, which also disapproves of heterosexual civil marriage.
Church officials have focused their criticism on the bill’s implications for traditional family values, and say potential legal challenges could lead to a future expansion of surrogacy rights to same-sex couples.
Church officials focused their criticism on the bill’s implications for traditional family values and argued that possible legal challenges could lead to a future expansion of same-sex couples’ surrogacy rights.
