1st gay weddings in Greece
2008-06-03 14:50
Athens - Greece's first gay weddings were held on Tuesday when two couples, abetted by a sympathetic local mayor, defied the threat of criminal charges and the wrath of the Orthodox church to tie the knot on a tiny Aegean island.
One gay and one lesbian couple took advantage of the failure
of Greek civil law to specify gender in matrimony, to wed at the
municipal offices of the southeast Aegean island of Tilos.
"We are very moved and happy that we found someone to make
our dream come true," said Evangelia Vlami, one of the newlyweds
and spokesperson for Greece's Gay and Lesbian Community (OLKE).
"I am proud to be the first Greek Lesbian to get married".
A Greek Orthodox priest described their homosexuality as a
curse and the mayor of a neighbouring island said the sight of
same-sex couples would upset "good families" on their holidays.
Vlami told Reuters her wedding took place early in the
morning and two gay men followed soon after. Details had been
kept under wraps until all official documentation was signed for
fear the ceremonies might have been disrupted.
Criminal charges
The weddings were held only a few days after a senior Greek
prosecutor said the mayor of Tilos would face criminal charges
if he officiated; but the mayor, Tassos Aliferis, told Reuters
he was determined to defend what he saw as basic human rights.
The Justice Ministry said the marriages were illegal and all
involved would face charges.
"The law does not allow marriage between homosexuals," a
Justice Ministry official who requested anonymity told Reuters.
"The case will go to court; the mayor of Tilos will face
charges."
But OLKE said it hoped the weddings would help change
attitudes towards homosexuals in Greece, which has long
preferred to turn a blind eye to homosexuality rather than
acknowledge gay rights.
Homosexuality 'a deadly sin'
"This is terrible," the mayor of the neighbouring island of
Rhodes, Hatzis Hatziefthimiou, told Ant1 TV. "We have good
families coming here for holidays, we can't have them coming to
our beaches and seeing these kind of couples."
While many European Union countries have established
legislation allowing gay marriage or "registered partnership"
rights to same-sex couples, neither are allowed in Greece.
The Netherlands was the first EU country to offer full civil
marriage rights to gay couples in 2001 and Belgium followed in
2003. Spain legalised gay marriage in 2005, despite fierce
opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.
Tuesday's weddings drew immediate fire from the Orthodox
church, which strongly opposes homosexuality.
"Homosexuality is a curse, a deadly sin, it goes against
psychological and biological normality," Father Stylianos
Karpathiou told state NET TV.