He Parliament of Greece approved this Thursday the Gay marriage and the adoption of minors by same-sex couplesa measure promoted by the conservative government despite frontal opposition from the influential Orthodox Church.
“Is about a milestone for human rights that reflects today’s Greece: a progressive and democratic country passionately committed to European values,” responded the Greek Prime Minister. Kyriakos Mitsotakison social network X.
Specifically, the bill was approved by 176 yes votes – with the support of the opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) – and 76 against, while a total of 46 MPs were absent, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.
In his speech to the plenary session, Mitsotakis defended that the measure would be “fair” to people of the same gender makes “people visible who were previously invisible”. “This bill aims to unite, not divide,” he added.
Deputy Andonis Samarasby the government New democracyfeatured in one of the most tense moments of the session when he declared gay marriage “does not constitute a human right” nor is it guaranteed by international law.
“Human rights are too serious an issue to be trivialized in this way. And any misinterpretation diminishes it. “A human right is not what one is trying to demand,” he assured, according to the newspaper “To Vima”.
In this sense, he has argued that the measure constitutes representation a “regression” of the right to a familysince minors have the right to have parents of both sexes, and an “abolition” of the nuclear family model.
Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis introduced a series of reforms to promote LGBTQ rights after taking office in 2019, with the legalization of same-sex marriage being part of the program.