Greece wants to legalize marriage between same sex couples and grant the right to adoption

The prime minister said on Wednesday that he wanted to eliminate “all discrimination based on sexual orientation with regard to entering into a marriage.”

Published on October 1, 2024 9:42 p.m. Updated on October 1, 2024 9:44 p.m

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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens (Greece), January 8, 2024. (NICK PALEOLOGOS / SOOC / AFP)

A major LGBT breakthrough in Greece. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Wednesday, January 10, that he wants to legalize marriage between same-sex couples and grant same-sex couples the right to adopt, in a country where a traditional family model still prevails. “What we will legislate is marriage equality, i.e. the abolition of any discrimination based on sexual orientation with regard to entering into a marriage,” affirmed the conservative head of government in an interview with the public television station ERT.

“What is marriage really? I would say that it is the culmination of love between two people. But it is also a legal contract with rights and responsibilities,” he said. added. Kyriakos Mitsotakis did not specify when the bill would be presented to MPs, but according to Greek media, this approach should take place before the European elections in June.

The use of a surrogate mother is not permitted

Civil partnerships have existed in Greece since 2015. However, in the case of same-sex couples with children, only the biological parent has rights to these children. Thus, in the event of the death of the biological parent, the child is removed from the other parent. Kyriakos Mitsotakis also emphasized that this parent currently has “no rights” to the child.

“Same-sex couples have children, and these children will not cease to exist, they will not disappear. But these children do not have the same rights,” lamented the Prime Minister in defense of his plan. In order to put an end to this problematic situation, Athens wants to grant homosexual couples in particular the right to adopt. On the other hand, unlike heterosexual couples, they have no right to use a surrogate mother.

Of the 27 countries in the European Union, fifteen have legalized same-sex marriage and sixteen have legalized adoption by same-sex parents.