With 176 votes, the bill was approved same-sex couples in Parliament, after two days of intense debates, political conflicts and counterclaims. 76 deputies voted “no”, while two declared “present”. A total of 254 MPs voted.

Greece became the 37th country in the world to recognize marriage equality, with the amendment of Article 1350 of the Civil Code and the introduction of the rule that marriage is concluded between two persons of the same or different sexes.

From the New Democracy 107 deputies voted “yes”, 20 voted “no”, while 31 abstentions were recorded.

By SYRIZA Pavlos Polakis was absent, while Nina Kasimati declared “present” and voted in favor of some articles.

From PASOK no one voted against, however, the abstention of 11 deputies was recorded. More specifically, the:

Liakoulis, Chnaris, Kazani, Poulas, Michaelidis, Paraskevaidis, Staraka, Konstantinopoulos, Baran, Panas, Nikolaidis.

New Left and Freedom Sailing they voted in favor of the bill, while they voted against it Greek Solution, Spartans and Victory.

The independent MP Areti Papaioannou voted “no”, while the also independent Michalis Hourdakis declared “present”.

Akis Skertsou’s final speech

“Before we proceed to the vote, I want to ask you, by voting, to think about the relief that people, our fellow human beings, acquaintances, friends, relatives will feel when this bill is passed and they are finally visible and accepted. The relief that their parents will feel, when they stop feeling that they should not be ashamed of what their children are, of what they were born for, because our state will now recognize them as equals. This legislation will make us love ourselves more and at the same time others.

The form of the family does not change, the nuclear family remains strong, the interest of the children is protected, the draft law comes to recognize the reality and give children and our fellow citizens the care and protection that everyone else has. Nothing less and nothing more. Children exist, the law will not give birth to them, the law will recognize and protect them just like the rest.

We learned here today, that despite our political differences, we can agree on certain things, without those differences disappearing. I want to thank Freedom Sailing, which has consistently maintained a constructive attitude, without asterisks and footnotes. To SYRIZA, PASOK, the New Left, who raised issues, which are not relevant to the present, and to a large extent they were raised, in my humble opinion, to obscure their embarrassment that they are voting for an emblematic social reform of the New Democracy, while at the same time, as a contradiction, they are extremely critical of the rule of law – these are contradictions that should be avoided for our own credibility. I feel sorry for the KKE. Because in his course for utopia and class struggle, which, however, as it was tested, ended up in dystopia, somewhere he forgot the people and refuses to cooperate in a self-evident reform. Apocalyptic, and I must note it, was the association of the otherwise Christ-named Victory with a party controlled by justice, as a showcase party of a convicted criminal, as well as the intolerant speech of the Greek Solution, which imagines our country, unfortunately, except European reality. But first of all I must acknowledge that this reform, which does not deprive the majority of citizens, but gives oxygen, equality and freedom to a minority, is being implemented under the bold leadership of our prime minister and the courageous support of the great center-right faction of the New of Democracy, the most durable and coherent faction from the post-colonial period onwards, which put Greece in Europe, which kept Greece in Europe together with PASOK, in the difficult years of divisive populism, and which has now taken over as an independent government of a broad broad social and political alliance, under Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to make our country more productive, fairer, greener, more digital, more European and ultimately stronger.

It is management consistent with the liberal philosophy and perception that characterizes him as a politician. And no, it does not create rifts of cohesion in New Democracy, because it does not point the finger at the opposing point of view, nor does it arbitrarily threaten, with sanctions, anyone who disagrees, as SYRIZA does. On the contrary, this management strengthens our cohesion even more. So that by closing, peacefully and bloodlessly, this chapter, let us move forward together in the next major reform battles, which concern Greek society as a priority”.

See HERE the basic parameters of the plan:

The main points of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ position on the bill:

  • The bill makes life much better for many fellow citizens without depriving anything of the life of the many
  • It is something that the constitution provides for and the state requires so that people who have been invisible until now become visible and with them children find the place that suits them next to all the others
  • Children are at the heart of the bill’s interest
  • These parents do not yet legally have the same possibilities to offer their children what they need, to pick up from school, to travel to the doctor
  • If an unborn parent is lostthen they are directed to a relative or even worse to an institution
  • They can neither inherit nor provide alimony and maintenance in the event that the parents divorce. We fill this gap
  • Marriage is the culmination of the love of two people who decide to come along. Legal systems adapt internationally.
  • We extend the rights of children to those already living with same-sex couples
  • It does not change the context for assisted reproductionnor does parent 1 and parent 2 exist.
  • Religious marriage is an exclusive affair of the Church whose positions the government respects.
  • Or papas papas or zeugas zeugas. And in other cases we had different options. It turned out that they did not disrupt social cohesionnor our relations with the Church.
  • Happy children can grow up with parents of the same sex as nature determined their sexual orientation
  • To applause, the prime minister referred to ranking of Greece by the Economist in the 20th place of the world’s best democracies: What do you have to say about the fact that the Economist ranked Greece in the 20th place worldwide in the democracy index? Why don’t you tell this in the European Parliament where your MEPs go and make a mess and all they do is vote resolutions against the funding of the homeland? You will also point the finger at us for the rule of law…
  • The occasion provided the opportunity for many opinions to be heard. It is true that there are reservations that run horizontally across all parties. It is good to once again explain provisions of the bill and address reasonable concerns
  • One of them claims that the changes could be addressed through the current cohabitation agreement – Then we would create two similar institutions with new inequalities
  • The pact that I personally voted for a few months before I was elected president of the ND is a loose contract that can be terminated unilaterally.
  • The bill makes no mention of medically assisted reproduction while the status remains the same for adoption.
  • Today we have indisputable empirical data which exceed our subjective beliefs. Happy children can grow up with parents of the same sex. What makes the difference in a home is love and affection.
  • It would be very easy to engage in yet another confrontation. Matters of rights are matters of principle. They should not be put in the partisan tug-of-war. It would be equally counterproductive to bash the opposing point of view. From the beginning, I wanted this dialogue not to be politically charged
  • The bill is intended to unite and not divide. I think that most citizens in this logic join far from tensions that end up graphic. Psalms with left fists and prayers with anti-parliamentary slogans probably do not fit. Such events make the tradition very paradoxical. Fortunately, our society stayed away from such extremes. There was maturity in the public debate. A large majority of citizens condemned and still condemns intolerance.