Greeks protest for same-sex marriage ahead of trial
The case of two same-sex couples who took advantage of a loophole in Greek law and got married on the island of Tilos will be heard by a Greek court later this week.
The current legislation does not specify sex, but refers exclusively to persons.
A gay couple and a lesbian couple took advantage of the existing legal gap and were married in a civil ceremony at dawn on June 3rd.
In June a prosecutor on the Greek island of Rhodes began legal proceedings against a local Mayor who married the same-sex couples.
The country’s Justice minister said that the civil cermonies performed by Tasos Aliferis on the small island of Tilos were illegal.
Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas said Greece’s constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
He wrote to prosecutors outlining how Article 21, “the family, being the cornerstone of the preservation and the advancement of the Nation, as well as marriage, motherhood and childhood, shall be under the protection of the State,” means same-sex marriage is illegal.
The public prosecutor of the Rhodes Court of First Instance responded by submitting a nullity suit against the two couples and against Anastasios Aliferis, Mayor of Telos.
The trial begins on Thursday.
Today the Athens Pride Committee has organised a “support and solidarity event” in front of the country’s parliament building.
