“For the law to ignore reality is not just an evasion, it is the greatest institutional hypocrisy that can exist and keeps social groups in the dark”, stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, in the discussion of the marriage equality bill. “Today our invisible fellow citizens, citizens who have suffered the discrimination, and have felt it, for a decade are made visible in law”, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and expressed his pride because today, returning home, he can face his children and tell them that they can be, talk, be discussed with children, with their friends, with their relatives, with their classmates, all of whom during this time were in the shadow of the law and out of fear, avoided expressing themselves.

Commenting on the objections to the constitutionality of the legislative initiative for marriage equality, Mr. Gerapetritis said that the prevailing opinion wants the extension of marriage to be an issue that does not concern the Constitution but is an initiative of the joint legislature. “That means it’s a political choice, which comes before the national delegation and is voted on and that is why the fact that it comes from the current government is even more valuable”.

It is important to understand that real concepts evolve, the foreign minister said at this point, noting that marriage is a technical concept, while family is a real concept.

For those citing the interests of children to justify their refusal to vote for the bill, the Foreign Secretary said that “this is a conversation purely pretend” because when the marriage of same-sex couples and childbearing abroad is recognized, when these families exist, then in fact, if the law of Greece does not recognize this situation, it creates greater obstacles for those who wish to marry or have children and come in GREECE.

“Justice is what gives flesh and bones to the removal of bullying and the removal of real inequalities, because only when equality is included in the institutions, it becomes a reality. And that’s what we’re doing,” said Giorgos Gerapetritis. The children who exist today must be included in a legal framework, made visible by the law, he added.

Against the argument that there was no reason to legislateeither because society is not interested, or because society, in its majority, opposes this legislative arrangement, he himself replied: “With all due respect, I will say it expressly: The legislator is not here to do what is pleasant, nor is he here to do those imposed by the majority. He is here to do the right thing. We do not legislate for the many, but we legislate for justice and righteousness. That is why such an issue of equality could never be raised, not even in a referendum. Would it ever be possible to have a referendum to ban abortion? Can we discuss fundamental issues related to equality, if we are subject to the vice of equality?”, said Mr Gerapetritis and added: “The rule of law is the protection of the few, against the judgment of the many and the few are the ones who are vulnerable. The law exists primarily for them and the Parliament that legislates exists for them”.

“It is a great moment for the Greek Parliament and the Greek state, it is one of those days when you feel the historical burden of responsibility to restore injustices and bring a substantial equality to your homeland,” said the foreign minister. It is noted that, at the beginning of his intervention, he gave credit to the president of Plefsis Eleftheria, Zoe Konstantopoulou, because “she was the only political leader who spoke only about the object of the bill”, “because we heard a lot today about wiretapping, about the rule of law, about the accident in Tempe, but really, about the essence of the bill, we didn’t we heard a lot”, “and this is an insult to those who are in the Parliament today, to follow the debate and expect historical answers straight and honest, because it was delayed so many years for this bill to come”.

“Today in the Parliament there were censors and honorees but there were not those who would do their self-criticism. Because we had a PASOK government, we had a SYRIZA government, but this initiative came from this government and will be voted by this faction. Yes, with the votes of other political parties and to their credit, but the initiative and the historical burden of responsibility it was taken over by the current government”said Giorgos Gerapetritis.