The 36th country globally, the 16th country in the European Union and the 1st Orthodox Christian nation in the world to legalise same sex marriage, it’s safe to say history was made in Athens today.
After a majority win in the Hellenic Parliament the bill was approved by 176 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament and will become the law when it’s published in the official government gazette. This was largely due to the efforts of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his centre-right government who after this landmark ruling tweeted “This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece — a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values.”
The law also extends full parental rights for same sex parents. Stella Beila, the founder of Rainbow Families, an NGO that works towards the welfare of LGBTQI+ parents and their families said, “a major victory that we’ve been fighting for for years.” She added, “It makes life much, much easier for many people, and it protects children that have been living in a state of precariousness.”
But the law has divided the country, with polls showing a small majority in favour of the law. The bulk of the backlash to this change has come from the Orthodox church whose followers took to the streets of Athens to protest this bill. The Holy Synod argued that the bill “abolishes fatherhood and motherhood, neutralises the sexes” and creates an environment of confusion for children. Nonetheless, the streets of Greece today are filled with bright rainbows celebrating this victory!
Don’t get me wrong the ruling is a landmark moment in queer Greek history, but the law does not extend full equality for non-biological parents and does not recognise identities beyond the gender binary. It falls short in providing access to assisted reproduction or surrogate pregnancies for same sex couples, people who identify as trans or intersex, and single men. It also fails to amend a provision that prevents changing the name and gender of a transgender person in their children’s birth certificate.
And while through this bill there are definitely going to be more big fat Greek weddings to enjoy the lack of the same in India still leaves most of our hearts heavy. Because if a country with a strong religious conviction, queer mythological history and flamboyant weddings halfway across the world can celebrate all forms of love then why can’t we?
