With the phrase “As a true conservative and traditional politician I am voting for this bill not in spite of being a conservativebut precisely because I am a conservative”the Speaker of the Parliament, Kostas Tasoulas, addressed the House with a speech of warm support for the marriage equality bill.

The president of the Parliament, after reading verbatim the oath given by the couples in the civil marriage, wondered “where is the subversive, the revolutionary, the subversive, the dangerous?” and he explained that in this assurance given by two men, “we do not arrange the lives of our fellow-citizens according to their tastes, but entrust them with a high responsibility to which they accede.”

“They assume responsibility, we institutionalize responsibility. And personally, as a conservative and traditional person, I like all members of society to join institutions of responsibility. This is what we are doing today,” emphasized Mr. Tasoulas, commenting those who “think that by taking risks, for the values, customs and traditions, that the sacred and faithful are being undermined and shaken, that the traditional family will be abolished” he emphasized that this family has stood this nation through hard times, they are so solid, so tested, that they need not be afraid.

In fact, he asked himself: “Now this traditional family, which so many support, do they feel so little that they should trust it? Do you have so little trust in traditional institutions that, because a minority of our fellow citizens voluntarily and on our own initiative enters the same family responsibility, threatens the sanctuaries and loyalties of the nation?”. Taking his reasoning a step further, Mr. Tasoulas posed the question: “Or are some few of you, merchants, or do you pretend to be the devotees of these sanctuaries and the faithful of the nation?”

He continued by underlining that this family that survived winter periods and the Turkish occupation and contributed to keeping Greece standing, does not need obligations, risks, toxicities to keep standing. It will stand because it is a worthy tried and tested institution. But – as the president of the Parliament observed – the very form of the family is evolving and it has been accepted in many countries of the civilized world that there is another form of family, not the majority, which is dictated by the need that people feel to be together without to be of a different gender. “We have no reason to be afraid of this, nor to be afraid of it, but above all, neither should we be afraid of it by taking risks. There is this dimension today we take care of this family today we welcome to the village of the most traditional institution of Greek society and this family it is neither going to threaten nor undermine the homeland. Because we, who honestly and without pretending to be unfaithful to traditions, have confidence in this form of family, to which we belong,” he said characteristically. institutional family those of our fellow citizens who today, with this bill, will feel that they have equal rights and obligations. In this sense, I support this bill not despite being a conservative, but precisely because I am a conservative,” clarified the president of the House.

The president of the Parliament also took a position regarding the arguments that put the reaction of the Church as the frontline. He characteristically said: “This right to enter into a marriage regardless of gender is crucial but it is also simple: any gender restriction is lifted regarding the persons who enter into a legal act and not a liturgy. What happens in the field of the legal order does not happen in the field of the Church of Greece , which has its own rules within the context of fully respected religious freedom, nor does any other religious community or value system dictate otherwise.”

Finally, Mr. Tasoulas did not fail to comment during his speech the “unnecessary confrontation” which took place in these days of the debate on the bill as to who first thought of or conceived the idea of ​​such a piece of legislation, or who without him the bill would not have been passed.

“In politics, facts are more important than intentions. The fact is that tonight a legislative initiative of the ND government is being voted on – in which several opposition parties join, in a way that proves political maturity – and all the other talk, salty or bitter references, are unnecessary and remind me more of an unnecessary effort to convert while we are talking with our responsibility, to voice-deacons caressing ears, pretending that we have the initiative or that without us this would not have happened”.