What’s Behind Greece Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

Greece made history last week after its parliament approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, becoming the first majority-Christian Orthodox country to enact such legislation.

“This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece – a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following the vote.

Mitsotakis, who won re-election in a landslide last summer, pushed the bill forward despite facing pushback by the influential Greek church and politicians, including MPs of his own center-right New Democracy party.

The Greek public also appeared split on the issue, according to polling.

But Mitsotakis said he was able to make the argument that it is important to legislate on this matter given it creates meaningful change for some people without threatening the majority of the population in any way.

“I knew from the beginning that there are a lot of people also within my party that did not agree with this but we went through extensive public consultation, we had a very rigorous debate in Greece,” Mitsotakis told GZERO World. “And at the end of the day, human rights is about protecting smaller groups. Otherwise, you have the tyranny of the majority.”

Still, some point out that despite the fact that Mitsotakis believed in this bill, there are also other political calculations he made in pushing it through.

The recently passed legislation recognizes the right of same-sex couples to civil marriage and adoption. Previously, under Greek law, only biological parents of children in same-sex relationships were recognized as legal guardians.

Stella Belia, the founder of Rainbow Families, an organization representing same-sex families, told The New York Times the bill “makes life much, much easier for many people, and it protects children that have been living in a state of precariousness.”

Still, the legislation does not allow same-sex couples to have children through a surrogate, an option that only remains available to women, whether single or married, who are unable to have children due to health issues. Some people are expecting this discrepancy to be challenged in court.

The bill, which passed on the evening of Feb. 15, was supported by 175 out of the 300 members of parliament. Mitsotakis had to rely on support from some MPs of opposition parties, including left-wing Syriza and center-left Pasok, as a third of his New Democracy MPs, including government ministers, either voted against the bill or abstained from the vote.

Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, one of the bill’s biggest detractors within the government, called the legislation “dangerous,” adding that “same-sex marriage does not constitute a human right.”

Mitsotakis said he respected the different views on this subject and would not discipline New Democracy MPs who opposed the legislation.

Wolfango Piccoli, the co-president of political risk at Teneo, a consultancy firm, told HuffPost that Samaras’ full-throated criticism could actually work to Mitsotakis’ advantage politically because it demonstrates the party is “kind of broad family that caters for a wide variety of center-right or more right-wing kind of voters.”

That coupled with the fact that the main left-wing opposition parties were also divided on the bill, meant the left was unable to score political points on this issue.

The legislation is also part of Mitsotakis’ effort to solidify his centrist credentials.

Nick Malkoutzis, the co-founder and editor of Macropolis, an independent politics and economic analysis service, told HuffPost the bill is in line with Mitsotakis’ personal political beliefs, adding that the New Democracy leader has…