Greece, the inventor of gay sex, legalises gay marriage

Greece has become the world’s first Christian Orthodox nation to legalise same-sex marriage after 176 MPs voted in favour of the bill on Thursday. 76 voted against the reform, while two abstained and 46 were not present.

As the result was announced, members of the Greek queer community watched from the galleries above. “We have waited years for this,” said LGBTQ+ rights activist Stella Belia, in light of the news. “It’s a historic moment. A lot of us weren’t sure it would ever come.”

Despite facing pushback from within his own centre-right party, New Democracy, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had been a staunch supporter of the bill and said it would end “serious inequality for our democracy”. In a speech before the vote, the leader stated that the new legislation would align Greece with 36 countries globally that had already legalised same-sex marriage and added that being a conservative did not mean doggedly refusing to modernise.

“The reform that we are legislating today […] will make the life of some of our fellow citizens that much better without – and I emphasise this – taking away anything from the lives of the many,” he said. “We are covering a gap by allowing everyone, if they wish, to institutionally seal their relationship … just as heterosexual couples do.”

Some LGBTQ+ activists in the country have criticised the bill for not going far enough. As it stands, the bill does not overturn obstacles for LGBTQ+ couples in using assisted reproduction methods. Surrogate pregnancies remain limited to single women and straight couples – although the bill now recognises children already born via surrogacy abroad.

The vote came after weeks of public debate on the issue, with supporters of the new bill describing it as “long overdue”, while critics branded it as “unchristian”. The Orthodox Church in the country continues to believe homosexuality is a sin (despite many people pointing out that homosexuality was pretty much invented by the Ancient Greeks).