Greece becomes first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage

Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalize same-sex marriage.

Greece’s parliament approved a bill allowing same-sex civil marriage on Thursday, a landmark victory for supporters of LGBT rights.

The bill was approved by 176 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament and will become law when it’s published in the official government gazette.

The law gives same-sex couples the right to wed and adopt children and comes after decades of campaigning by the LGBT community for marriage equality in the socially conservative country.

“This is a historic moment,” Stella Belia, the head of same-sex parents group Rainbow Families, told Reuters. “This is a day of joy.”

Although members of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right New Democracy party abstained or voted against the bill, it gained enough support from the leftist opposition in a rare show of cross-party unity despite a tense debate.

“It’s a very important step for human rights, a very important step for equality, and a very important step for Greek society,” said 40-year-old Nikos Nikolaidis, a historian who joined a rally in favour of the bill ahead of the vote.

Fifteen of the European Union’s 27 members have already legalised same-sex marriage. It is permitted in 35 countries worldwide.