Greece drafts bill for same-sex civil unions
The Greek justice minister has posted a draft bill to open up civil partnerships to same-sex couples.
Two years ago, Greece was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for not granting any legal recognition to same-sex couples. A same-sex couple were wed in 2008, but swiftly had their marriage annulled.
In a statement, the justice minister Nikolaos Paraskevopoulos said: “Seven years after the establishment of the civil partnership agreement that excluded same-sex couples and a year and a half after our country was convicted at the European Court of Human Rights, we present a modern institutional framework that regulates partnerships.
“With the enactment of a new civil union pact, Greece will cease to be one of the last European countries where same-sex couples do not receive some kind of official recognition for their relationship.
Greek Independent MP Nikos Nikolopoulos previously labelled Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and his partner “FAGGOT MATES”.
The governing left-wing Syriza party is the only Greek parliamentary party to have previously expressed support for same-sex marriage, with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calling for a number of gay rights reforms in the past.
Greece has been slower than much of the rest of Europe on progressing LGBT rights, but appears to be catching up. The country is often linked with historical homosexuality, with some of the oldest gay erotica being discovered there last year.
