OAN’s James Meyers
11:27 AM – Monday, February 12, 2024
Over 4,000 protesters gathered Sunday in Athens, Greece to oppose legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage.
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The vote is set to take place in the coming days in the parliament.
Greece’s conservative government is sponsoring the bill but it will require votes from center and left sided opposition parties to be approved.
The protesters were led by religious groups who said the bill is a threat to the traditional family. Protesters were also chanting “hands off our children.”
“Unfortunately, the woke agenda has also reached Greece and that agenda includes the marriage of homosexuals,” Dimitris Natsios, leader of the religious Niki Party said.
“Greece is a Christian Orthodox country and our tradition does not allow this. … We know and respect one type of marriage: The Orthodox Christian wedding. Our Constitution also does not provide for this, so this bill is unconstitutional and runs counter to our faith in Christ,” Natsios continued.
The Niki Party, which was founded in 2019, entered parliament in 2023.
Meanwhile, same sex-couples in Greece seeking to start a family currently get married in countries where same-sex marriage is legal.
However, Greece has legalized “cohabitation contracts” for same-sex couples since December 2015. A “cohabitation contract” is if you live together with a partner in a stable and continuous way, you have some EU-wide rights, even if you have not registered your partnership with any authority, according to the European Union.
Greece would the first majority Orthodox country to legalize same-sex marriage if the bill is approved.
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