ATHENS, Greece (LifeSiteNews) —Greece on Thursday became the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex “marriage” and adoption of children.
In a move signaling the widespread departure of the country from its Orthodox Christian roots, Greece’s Parliament approved the landmark legislation with 176 voting in favor and 76 against. Two legislators abstained from the vote, and 46 were not present in the house.
The legislation was drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who pledged his support for legal same-sex “marriage” days into his second term.
Mitsotakis, who belongs to the New Democracy party’s moderate faction, celebrated the law’s passage in a post on X as a “a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece — a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values.”
While Greece legalized same-sex civil unions in 2015, gay couples could not adopt children, and only biological parents of children could serve as their legal guardians. The country’s new law now allows same-sex couples to adopt children and enables their legal status as guardians, but they are not permitted to “make” a baby using a surrogate mother.
Marriage and children’s rights activist Doug Mainwaring weighed in on the new law, noting, “The Greek Prime Minister hailed the vote as ‘a milestone for human rights,’ but the fact is Greek law already recognized civil partnerships for gay couples. Once again, we see that the issue was never really about ‘equal rights’; same-sex ‘marriage’ has always been about undoing the immutable definition of marriage, leading to the unraveling of western society.”
“Tragically, the new law places adult demands for ‘equal rights’ over the fundamental right of children to have both a mother and a father. As child rights activist Katy Faust, founder of Them Before Us, says, ‘Children are the victims of marriage equality,’” he added. Faust herself was raised by a lesbian couple.
Mainwaring’s thoughts echo those of the Greek Orthodox Church, which vehemently opposes the legislation. In a letter addressed to Greek Parliament before their vote, the Church’s governing body, the Holy Synod, said that the legislation places the desires of homosexual adults above the rights of children by allowing them “to be parented by same-sex couples and grow up without a father or mother in an environment of confusing gender roles,” CNN reported.
“Children are neither pets nor accessories,” the Holy Synod said in a statement distributed to dioceses ahead of the vote. “No social modernisation and no political correctness can trick the natural need of children for a father and a mother.”
The Metropolitan of Piraeus, Seraphim, who had previously threatened to excommunicate lawmakers who voted for the legalization of same-sex unions, further called homosexuality “an abuse of the body” and a “great sin.”
Greek Orthodox priests joined laypeople for a protest against the law outside parliament on Sunday attended by more than 1,500. Many of the protesters chanted “hands off our children.”
“Unfortunately, the woke agenda has also reached Greece and that agenda includes the marriage of homosexuals,” Dimitris Natsios, leader of the conservative, religious Victory (“Niki”) party, told the Associated Press.
“Greece is a Christian Orthodox country and our tradition does not allow this. … We know and respect one type of marriage: The Orthodox Christian wedding. Our Constitution also does not provide for this, so this bill is unconstitutional and runs counter to our faith in Christ,” Natsios said.
The Balkan country joins over 30 around the world, including nearly all of Western Europe, where homosexual “marriage” is legal.
A recent Metron Analysis poll conducted in Greece found that 62% of respondents are in favor of same-sex “marriage,” and 36% are opposed. However, only 30% of respondents are in favor of adoption by same-sex couples, with 69% opposed.
Like many European counterparts, Mitsotakis has ruled out the possibility of legal surrogacy, at least for now.
“The idea of women who are turned into child-producing machines on demand … that is not going to happen,” he declared.