Key Milestone In Greece: Same-Sex Marriage Recognition

Greece's parliament approved a law enabling same-sex civil marriage, a historic triumph for LGBT rights advocates that was cheered by onlookers in parliament and dozens on the streets of Athens.

The ruling, which permits same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, follows decades of LGBT community agitation for marriage equality in the socially conservative country. The bill was approved by 176 members of the 300-member parliament and would become law once published in the official government gazette. Although members of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' center-right New Democracy party abstained or voted against the law, it received enough backing from the leftist opposition in a rare display of cross-party cooperation despite a stormy discussion. "It's a very important step for human rights, a very important step for equality, and a very important step for Greek society,"

Background

Following a heated debate in Parliament and elsewhere and against the backdrop of extremely public homophobic and transphobic comments, a large majority passed the law. Of the 254 MPs who voted, 176 supported the measure.

Despite repeated calls from civil society groups advocating for LGBTQI+ people's rights, the authorities' failure to introduce amendments on the "presumption of paternity," civil partnerships, medically assisted reproduction, and legislation on legal gender recognition perpetuates multiple forms of discrimination against LGBTQI+ individuals.

Parental Rights

The new law also extends parental rights to same-sex couples, who were previously permitted to form civil partnerships but were denied joint legal custody of their children. In Belia's family, this meant that, despite having raised five children together, she and her ex-partner both had sole custody of their biological children.

This lack of legal recognition presented Belia and other LGBTQI+ parents with several practical issues, including the inability to sign school permission slips and the denial of hospital visitation privileges or the right to maintain custody if the biological parent died.

A Seed Change

While Greece's new law is a historic triumph for LGBTIQ+ persons and their families, there are some caveats.

Amnesty International applauded the bill, but stated that it "does not go far enough to provide full equality for non-biological parents and does not recognize non-binary gender identities." Amnesty also stated that transgender parents are still unable to change their names or genders on their children's birth certificates and that the new law prohibits same-sex couples or single men from accessing surrogacy, which is legal in Greece for heterosexual couples.

To have their children's paternity recognized, same-sex couples must terminate their civil union and seek marriage.

Still, many LGBTQI+ people believe the new law is long overdue. "It's critical," said Konstans Zaphiri, who lives in Athens with her spouse and 19-month-old child. 'This answers many of the practical challenges we face in everyday life.'

But the couple still needs to make some concessions. Zaphiri stated that they were not interested in obtaining a civil union, but will marry to ensure equal parenting rights for their daughter. 'I believe this new law is positive,' she stated. 'It will not change my parenting techniques. But now I'll have custody of my child.

Same-sex marriage is a legally recognized partnership between two people of the same gender that allows them to enter into a formal marriage contract and enjoy the same rights, duties, and legal protections as opposite-sex couples. It is a term that refers to the capacity of people of the same sex to marry one other, resulting in a legal and social partnership founded on mutual love, commitment, and shared life goals.

Recognizing same-sex marriage frequently includes providing same-sex couples with equal legal rights and advantages, such as property ownership, inheritance, healthcare decision-making, child custody, and spousal benefits. It represents the social and legal affirmation of love and commitment between two people of the same gender, allowing them to publicly profess their love and form a legally recognized family unit.

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