By Penelope Galliou

Passing it successfully first crash test in terms of Cabinet cohesion, the government has put the same-sex marriage bill on the rails so that within the next twenty days it will be passed by Parliament and become the law of the land.

The “Voridis affair”, which until yesterday’s final settlement was the biggest intra-governmental “thorn”, had the best possible outcome for both sides. As it emerged from the climate and the discussion within the meeting of the Council of Ministers and the Minister of State had the opportunity to re-expose his views, declaring himself unmoved, but at the same time without breaking with the central political choice of the government and the very prime minister, with the result that the “golden ratio” was found in the choice of Mr. Makis Voridis to choose abstention in order to express in parliament his disagreement with the upcoming bill.

An attitude that weighed positively on the scale of Megaros Maximos, with government sources noting that Mr. Voridis “expressed this reservation already before he became a minister.

Choose the attitude of abstinence. So there is no question of his remaining in the Council of Ministers.”

Characteristic of the climate that prevailed in Herodos of Atticus was the dialogue that the Minister of State had with the Prime Minister during the Cabinet meeting.” it cannot change. I don’t want to create a political problem in the government, that’s why I will abstain from the vote”, said Mr. Voridis during his position which was respected by Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“I am glad that the disagreements are also expressed in a structured way. I will not get into the legal issues, because it is a matter of equality, inclusion and freedoms,” the prime minister emphasized, for his part.

The deputy ministers

Even though the Voridis issue was closed for the government, the same is not broadcast for the deputy ministers who still disagree with the legislative regulation for same-sex couples. Government sources present an ambiguous attitude, stating on the one hand that the deputy ministers are not members of the Council of Ministers, so their position does not have the same weight as that of Mr. Voridis, for example, but on the other hand – as they say – they are waiting to see the final decision attitude of the deputy ministers during the vote on the bill.

In addition, the government’s gaze, after the public consultation of the bill has been completed on the evening of January 31, is directed towards the Parliament and within the ND parliamentary group, where disagreements still exist among a significant number of its MPs, for which it will continue the operation of “persuasion” until the time when they will be called to vote in Parliament on the bill.

At the moment, the government is still weighing whether the Church can further influence the MPs, after the official position of the Holy Synod, and also any actions of Metropolitans until the time of voting. The polls that see the light of day and may weigh on the final attitude of MPs who are pressured by their voters, especially in the province, are also the subject of study.

However, Marc’s poll for ANT1 is typical, according to which 57.8% agree and 39.8% disagree with the legalization of civil marriage for same-sex couples, while 2.4% did not answer. Also noteworthy is the finding that 44.2% of ND voters disagree with the marriage of same-sex couples.

The data is reversed when it comes to the adoption of children by same-sex couples, with 55.2% saying “against” and 41% expressing a positive opinion. 3.8% did not answer.

The bill will include a total of 13 articles and is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament in early February. A public consultation will have preceded, where all opinions and proposals will be heard, as well as meetings of the prime minister with the directly interested parties, while corrections or additions will probably follow if and when decided or resulting from the public consultation.

On the question of procreation – which gathers the strongest reactions – the government proposal will not recognize as a right for same-sex male couples medically assisted reproduction, through a surrogate mother, while for the time being the question remains whether the ban will also include same-sex female couples , given that women already have the right to medically assisted reproduction. However, children born abroad will be recognized as well as those who will be born with a surrogate mother, also abroad. In Greece this option is prohibited, but if a couple goes abroad and has a child with a surrogate mother, the Greek state will recognize it.

And the parents will be declared as “father father” or “mother mother” and not with the designations “parent 1 and parent 2”. In addition, the bill would recognize equal rights for same-sex couples, but would exclude transgender people or those who declare a “third gender”, while the marriage of same-sex couples married abroad would be automatically recognized, although they would be asked to choose whether to keep the their marriage or the cohabitation agreement they will make in Greece.