In a landmark moment, Greece has become the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex marriage.
Participants kiss each other during the Pride Parade in Athens, Greece on June 10, 2023. (Photo by Nicolas Koutsokostas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
This comes after a majority of lawmakers voted in favor of a bill on Thursday, February 15 after decades of campaigning by LGBTQ rights activists.
Participants dance in front of the Greek parliament during the Athens Pride parade in Athens, on June 10, 2023. (Photo by ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Same-sex partnerships have been legal in Greece since 2015, but now same-sex couples can get married as well as legally adopt children.
A participant holds a placard reading “Did I vote on your marriage ?” during the Athens Pride parade in Athens, on June 10, 2023. (Photo by ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
However, the law still bans gay couples from becoming parents through surrogacy, which is allowed for women who can’t have children due to medical reasons
A gay couple kisses on February 14, 2011 during a protest against the Greek state’s refusal to recognise same-sex marriages on Athens’ Ermou St, the capital’s main shopping thoroughfare. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Greece’s prime minister, who had pushed for the law, called it a milestone for human rights, saying it will end a serious inequality in the country
Two womn kiss as they take part in the annual Gay Pride parade in Athens, on June 13, 2015. (Photo credit should read ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP via Getty Images)Members of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) community brandish a Rainbow Flag during the 9th annual Gay Pride march in Thessaloniki. (Photo by Sakis MITROLIDIS / AFP) (Photo by SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Greece has now become the 16th EU country and the first in southeastern Europe to achieve marriage equality.
People carry placards, flags and balloons during the 6th annual Gay Pride march in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on June 17, 2017. (Photo by Grigoris Siamidis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
