Greece’s parliament has approved legislation legalizing civil partnerships for gay couples, two years after the country was condemned by a European Court for discrimination.
In a result announced early Wednesday, lawmakers voted 193-56 in favour of the bill to extend civil partnerships to same-sex couples, but provisions regarding family law that could pave the way for adoption applications were dropped before the vote.
Conservative bishops in Greece’s powerful Orthodox Church vehemently opposed the law, arguing that it undermined the institution of family.
Lawmakers from the governing Syriza party backed the bill which split the main opposition conservatives.
Several hundred pro-gay rights protesters gathered outside parliament before the vote, under a large banner that read “Love is the law.”
Civil Partners are entitled to the same property rights as married opposite-sex couples, the same exemption as married couples social security and pension benefits next-of-kin rights in hospitals.
The law passed last night seeks to address omissions in 2008 legislation that recognized cohabitation for unmarried, couples. In 2013, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that excluding same-sex couples from the cohabitation pact was discriminatory.
The latest legislation grants same-sex couples the option of having civil partnerships, which would offer them more rights but not necessarily the right to adopt children.
