“The State must provide equal rights to the options,” said the Minister of Labor and Social Security Domna Michailidou, in the debate in the Parliament, about same-sex couples. “There is no legitimate reason to deny same-sex couples the right to parental leave when they have a child or to special maternity benefits, as we have recently legislated for freelancers and self-employed women, so that they can enjoy 9 months, like employed women. Nor is there a legitimate reason not to protect same-sex couples who have children from dismissal, because there are today same-sex couples who are raising children, without having the right to be recognized as a family, and to enjoy benefits and privileges that the State recognizes for same-sex families” , said Mrs. Michailidou.

“Today the government of the New Republic legislates equality in civil marriage. Yes, the New Democracy it is, we are a conservative party. What do we maintain? We uphold our values. We maintain and protect our values ​​and one of them is the value of family. But to preserve it, to protect it, we have to keep our eyes, our minds and our ears open”, the Minister of Labor also said and added: “We protect what we believe in, recognizing today’s reality, not closing our eyes to her. The power of conservation lies not in immobility but in the ability to adapt. Our societies are evolving and one of the achievements of our civilization is our freedom to decide how and with whom we will live, who we will love and who we will eventually marry. We all do this today. Everyone except our same-sex fellow citizens. This distinction does no honor to any liberal democracy, for which the Greek people died. The institution of marriage and the family is not in danger from the upvoting of this institution. On the contrary, the reflexes of a conservative government dictate the renewal of the institution, its adaptation and its expansion, over and above disputes against discrimination.