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Greek same-sex wedding bill allows couples to dream, at last

Greek same-sex wedding bill allows couples to dream, at last

Greek bishops attend the convention of the Holy Synod on the issue of the same-sex marriage, in Athens, Greece January 23, 2024. Christos Bonis/Holy Synod of Greece/Handout via REUTERS

THESSALONIKI, Greece 鈥 When a gay couple fell in love eight years ago, they said the idea of getting married was 鈥渟cience fiction鈥 in deeply conservative Greece, where LGBT+ couples cannot wed or adopt.

Now they have a tentative wedding date for spring, tease each other about their ballooning guest list, and are already considering outfits and flowers.

The conservative government plans to submit a bill to parliament on Thursday that legalizes same-sex civil marriage. The legislation is expected to pass given Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis鈥 centre-right party majority, and likely support from leftist lawmakers.

If it does, it will make Greece one of the first Orthodox Christian countries to adopt such measures and will be a landmark victory for couples like Kalantzi and Ampatzidou who have campaigned for equality.

READ: Greek Parliament legalizes same-sex civil partnerships

鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 even think about it, imagine it or dream about it,鈥 Kalantzi, a 42-year old oceanographer, said at the couple鈥檚 apartment in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.

The couple have a three-year-old son, but only his biological mother Kalantzi is recognized as a parent by the state. Under the bill, Ampatzidou will be able to adopt him and enjoy equal parental rights, if they marry.

鈥淥nly when we saw the text of the bill with our own eyes did we slowly start dreaming,鈥 said Kalantzi.

Greece鈥檚 powerful Orthodox Church believes homosexuality is a sin and openly opposes the bill. But many in the LGBT+ community believe it does not go far enough.

Ampatzidou and Kalantzi want to have a second child, but the bill does not overturn obstacles for LGBT+ couples in using assisted reproduction methods. The mothers said they have already been turned down twice by IVF centers.

鈥淏eing rejected by the clinic where we had our first child, was heartbreaking. The second one was like a stab in the heart,鈥 said Ampatzidou, 29, a nurse.

No 鈥榣aboratory of policies鈥

Surrogate pregnancies will also not be extended to LGBT+ couples and individuals, according to the draft bill, which recognizes children already born through that method abroad. That ban has already affected countless of people.

Athens-based radiologist Angelos Michailides, 54, spent four years and his life savings finding a surrogate mother in the United States.

He now has two three-year-old twins, but they are not recognized as citizens 鈥 Greek registry offices require the name of a mother 鈥 and have no access to public education or healthcare.

鈥淚n Greece, it is as if they don鈥檛 exist,鈥 he said as his twin daughters played cheerfully in the background. 鈥淭hey are invisible children.鈥

Addressing those issues, Mitsotakis told his cabinet last month that 鈥淕reece will not become a laboratory of policies which are only applied in a few countries鈥.

He has said the reform bill is not aimed to be revolutionary but rather to align Greece with other countries in the European Union adhering to an EU strategy that sets goals for LGBT rights in the 2020-2025 period.

Major step

Greece lags behind much of Europe in LGBT rights, but over the past decade it has recognized cohabitation agreements for same-sex couples and banned conversion therapy for minors aimed at suppressing a person鈥檚 sexual orientation.

Polls show Greeks are split on LGBT+ marriage. But Mitsotakis, whose New Democracy party has an eight-seat majority in the 300-seat parliament, hopes to win over the centre-left with the reforms.

READ: Same-sex marriage now legal in 30 countries

The bill, which is subject to changes during a long discussion period, needs at least 75 votes to pass.

鈥淥ur country should become fairer鈥 more European every day,鈥 said the bill鈥檚 sponsor, State Minister Akis Skertsos.

For all its perceived shortfalls, the bill is a major step forward for Kalantzi and Ampatzidou, who hope to marry in May. Kalantzi wrote a letter to the prime minister last month, urging him to propose the bill.

鈥淚t is time, Mr. Mitsotakis, for our anguish, our pain, our disappointment to end,鈥 she wrote.

Whatever the outcome, their son has little doubt who his parents are, legal or not.

On a book shelf, propped up by a toy airplane and a miniature rubber whale, is a drawing of a heart and a scrawled message.

鈥淢ommy Georgia, Mommy Yolanda, I love you to the moon.鈥

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