"Day of joy"

Same-sex marriage allowed in Greece

The Greek parliament approved civil marriage for same-sex couples on Thursday evening (see video above). 176 out of 300 MPs voted in favor of the corresponding law, which was presented by the government under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

According to the new law, homosexual couples will in future have the same rights and obligations as heterosexual couples. For example, they can adopt children and receive joint custody, even if the child is the biological offspring of one of the partners. Surrogate mothers, on the other hand, are not allowed to bring children into the world for homosexual couples.

Both left-wing and social democratic and conservative MPs supported the motion. The 76 votes against also spanned all parties. There were two abstentions and 46 MPs did not attend the meeting.

"No one is a second-class citizen"
Prime Minister Mistotakis said: "No one in Greece should feel like a second-class citizen. Today is a day of joy." Criticism had already come from the Greek Orthodox Church in the run-up to the meeting. It is the predominant religion in the country and has a strong influence on religiously oriented constituencies. Greece is the first predominantly Christian Orthodox country to allow civil marriage between people of the same sex.