First gay marriage in Greece?

[zefs]

Top prosecutor moves to block first gay marriage in Greece by island mayor
The Associated PressPublished: May 30, 2008


ATHENS, Greece: Greece's top public prosecutor on Friday moved to block a gay marriage ceremony after a mayor on a tiny Greek island said he was willing to perform one.

Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas is trying to stop a ceremony expected to take place this summer on the east Aegean Sea island of Tilos — issuing a directive to prosecutors saying same-sex marriages were illegal.

In March, a lesbian organization discovered a loophole in a 26-year-old law that does not specify gender in civil weddings. Two gay men in Tilos are trying to become the first pair to test it.

Sanidas' directive states that marriage between same-sex couples would be "automatically nullified and considered illegal."

Sanidas said the directive — forwarded to prosecutors on the island of Rhodes — was based on an article in Greece's constitution to protect family rights that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. Rhodes is the administrative capital for an island group that includes Tilos.

It was not immediately clear if gay groups would try to challenge Sanidas' directive.

On Thursday, Tilos Mayor Tassos Alfieris said he would carry out a ceremony for the men, who took the first official step toward marriage by posting a wedding notice in a Greek newspaper.

No date has been set for the service. Greek civil ceremonies are conducted my municipal officials.

Gay groups in Greece were angered after the conservative government left gays out of plans to create civil partnerships that would improve financial rights for unmarried couples

Justice Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis also said he believed gay marriages could not take place. "This is not possible. It would not be legal," he told state-run NET television.

Greece's influential Orthodox Church has expressed strong objections to gay marriage in the past.
www.iht.com

[Draco]

Out of the 192 countries in the world, only 5 accept same-sex marriage. I Greece going to be the sixth? Somehow I doubt it.

[zefs]

Home / News / World / Europe
Gay couples vow to wed in Greece despite opposition
Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Renee Maltezou
May 30, 2008
ATHENS—Couples who have found a legal loophole to hold the first gay weddings in Greece are determined to go ahead with the services despite threats from prosecutors and the wrath of the powerful Orthodox church.

more stories like thisTaking advantage of Greek civil law not clarifying the gender of people wishing to marry, a gay and a lesbian couple are planning to marry on the tiny Aegean island of Tilos.

While many European Union countries have established legislation allowing gay marriage or "registered partnership" rights to same-sex couples, neither are allowed in Greece.

A senior Greek prosecutor said on Friday the mayor of Tilos would face criminal charges if he proceeded with the weddings.

"Neither civil law nor the country's constitution refer to gay marriages," Greece's supreme court prosecutor, George Sanidas, said in a statement. "If the Tilos mayor proceeds, he will have committed the criminal act of breach of duty."

But the Greek Gay and Lesbian Community (OLKE) said the weddings would go ahead as planned but would not reveal details for fear they may be disrupted.

"We were sure the Greek state would resist and we are prepared for a legal fight," OLKE's Evangelia Vlami told Reuters. "The two couples will go ahead and marry within 15 days and these weddings will help end discrimination."

"We will go ahead despite the difficulties," said Tilos mayor Tassos Aliferis told Reuters on Friday. "I still can't believe that someone would be prosecuted for defending human rights."

The Netherlands were 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.

Greece, where the Orthodox church remains influential, has long preferred to turn a blind eye to homosexuality rather than acknowledge gay rights. The Orthodox church strongly opposes marriage between homosexuals.

"We view this phenomenon of homosexuality as an illness of the body," Metropolitan Bishop Chrisostomos told national NET TV. "The church can not accept the union of homosexuals."

boston.com

[Vasot]

We have better problems to resolve than wasting our time with the gay idiots

I am not against gay but i do not support them either
And this is the wrong time to make illegal gay marriages in Greece

The Greek state has not recognised gay marriages so these weddings will be cancelled or these persons will be found as not legal and send them all to justice

Gays are idiots

Originally Posted by Draco

Out of the 192 countries in the world, only 5 accept same-sex marriage. I Greece going to be the sixth? Somehow I doubt it.

EXACTLY !!

These illegal gay marriages are making many people in Greece very angry

Greece has not recognised gay marriages

Gays can go to hell
They are illegal so they will answer to justice for their actions sooner or later

If they do not like it they can go live in Holland or in some other state that recognises the gay weddings

Originally Posted by zefs

Home / News / World / Europe
Gay couples vow to wed in Greece despite opposition
Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Renee Maltezou
May 30, 2008
ATHENS—Couples who have found a legal loophole to hold the first gay weddings in Greece are determined to go ahead with the services despite threats from prosecutors and the wrath of the powerful Orthodox church.

more stories like thisTaking advantage of Greek civil law not clarifying the gender of people wishing to marry, a gay and a lesbian couple are planning to marry on the tiny Aegean island of Tilos.

While many European Union countries have established legislation allowing gay marriage or "registered partnership" rights to same-sex couples, neither are allowed in Greece.

A senior Greek prosecutor said on Friday the mayor of Tilos would face criminal charges if he proceeded with the weddings.

"Neither civil law nor the country's constitution refer to gay marriages," Greece's supreme court prosecutor, George Sanidas, said in a statement. "If the Tilos mayor proceeds, he will have committed the criminal act of breach of duty."

But the Greek Gay and Lesbian Community (OLKE) said the weddings would go ahead as planned but would not reveal details for fear they may be disrupted.

"We were sure the Greek state would resist and we are prepared for a legal fight," OLKE's Evangelia Vlami told Reuters. "The two couples will go ahead and marry within 15 days and these weddings will help end discrimination."

"We will go ahead despite the difficulties," said Tilos mayor Tassos Aliferis told Reuters on Friday. "I still can't believe that someone would be prosecuted for defending human rights."

The Netherlands were 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.

Greece, where the Orthodox church remains influential, has long preferred to turn a blind eye to homosexuality rather than acknowledge gay rights. The Orthodox church strongly opposes marriage between homosexuals.

"We view this phenomenon of homosexuality as an illness of the body," Metropolitan Bishop Chrisostomos told national NET TV. "The church can not accept the union of homosexuals."

boston.com

They will pay dearly for this

NO GAY MARRIAGES IN GREECE
We do not want gay marriages in our country

[Theofilos]

Wow. Got issues, much?

[prudence]

Originally Posted by Theofilos

Wow. Got issues, much?

but he's not against gays

[zefs]

First Greek gay marriages spark judicial battle
1 day ago

ATHENS (AFP) — A heated debate on gay rights opened in Greece on Tuesday hours after the country's first same-sex civil marriages were held on the small Aegean island of Tilos, sparking an immediate judicial reaction.

Greek Justice Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis quickly declared the marriages "non-existent" and accused the local mayor of "arbitrarily" overstepping his authority.

"There is no legal framework for the holding of same-sex weddings in Greece," Hatzigakis said in a statement.

But Greece's main homosexual association Olke pledged to fight back.

"A step forward for equality has been taken... We're going to fight for the recognition of our rights," said Evangelia Vlami, 47, a prominent Olke member who was one of the newlyweds on Tuesday.

She married a woman of similar age, who was not identified.

The sole other newlywed to be named is another longtime gay activist, Dimitris Tsabrounis, who married a 25-year-old man.

Around 30 people including witnesses, local residents and gay activists attended the two ceremonies conducted by Tilos Mayor Anastassis Aliferis shortly after dawn.

Greek gay rights groups exploited a loophole in a 1982 law that does not specify that a civil union must involve a man and a woman.

The exact timing and location had been shrouded in secrecy until the last minute as a similar attempt in Athens had to be abandoned in March.

The issue is considered taboo for Greek society, where homosexuals have only begun seeking greater visibility and voice in recent years, holding the country's first Gay Pride event in 2005.

The influential Greek Orthodox Church officially frowns upon same-sex relations, with its late head Archbishop Christodoulos famously condemning homosexuality as a "defect."

The prosecutor of Rhodes island -- the administrative centre of the Dodecanese island group -- on Tuesday called on the mayor to annul the marriage and opened a preliminary inquiry to examine the mayor's prosecution for breach of duty.

But Mayor Aliferis, a socialist, said there was no legal obstacle to the ceremony taking place.

"I have no intention of annulling the marriages," he told AFP.

"Under European law, there can be no discrimination, and I hope the authorities keep that in mind to avoid ridiculing our country," he said.

Gay activists launched the initiative after the government introduced a cohabitation law for unmarried couples that made no reference to homosexuals.

The Church's reaction was muted Tuesday.

"These people are outside the Church, they can do what they want," said Father Timotheos, spokesman for Christodoulos' successor Archbishop Ieronymos.

A poll by Ethnos daily in April showed Greek opinion is split on the issue.

Over 48 percent of respondents said they oppose the legalisation of same-sex relations against 45.1 percent who are in favour.

The move in Greece comes days after a court in neighbouring Turkey ordered the closure of a leading Turkish homosexual rights lobby group after prosecutors accused it of breaching morality and family norms.
afp.google.com

[zefs]

Greece sees first gay 'marriage'

Evangelia Vlami told the BBC she hoped to encourage other couples
The mayor of a Greek island has defied the threat of prosecution to carry out the country's first gay "marriages".

Two men and two women were "married" by Tassos Alfieris in the ceremonies on the eastern Aegean island of Tilos.

Mr Alfieris conducted the proceedings despite Greece's top prosecutor having issued a directive saying that same-sex weddings were outlawed.

One of the women involved, Evangelia Vlami, was bubbling with excitement as she told the BBC she was "so happy".

"From this day, discrimination against gays in Greece is on the decline. We did this to encourage other gay people to take a stand," she said after the ceremony held at sunrise on Tuesday.

Hostility

However, the weddings are bound to cause a huge backlash in Greece, says the BBC's Athens correspondent Malcolm Brabant.

Although homosexual practices were widely tolerated in ancient Greece, the modern nation is exceedingly hostile towards gays, he adds.

I still can't believe that someone would be prosecuted for defending human rights

Tassios Alfieris
Mayor of Tilos

The conservative Greek Orthodox Church has expressed strong objections, and the country's Justice Minister, Sotiris Hatzigakis, said he believed gay marriages were illegal.

"If the Tilos mayor proceeds, he will have committed the criminal act of 'breach of duty'," Supreme Court prosecutor George Sanidas warned on Friday.

"We will go ahead despite the difficulties," retorted Mr Alfieris. "I still can't believe that someone would be prosecuted for defending human rights."

However, leaders of other municipalities who had previously considered officiating at gay weddings have backed down.

And while Ms Vlami was prepared to be identified, her partner was not.

Similarly, only one half of the male partnership, Dimitris Tsaibrounis, was happy to be named.

Gay campaigners believe they have found a loophole in Greek civil law, which does not clarify the gender of people wishing to marry.

But Greece has formally legalised neither gay marriage nor the "registered partnerships" becoming more common in other European countries.

The Netherlands offered full civil marriage rights to gay couples in 2001 and Belgium followed in 2003. Spain legalised gay marriage in 2005. The UK has legalised civil partnerships but not gay marriage.


bbc.com

[zefs]

This is the step before they start allowing gay civil unions in Greece!!!!!!!
Cabinet ratifies couples bill
Cohabitation law would only apply to heterosexuals, justice minister says
A proposed cohabitation law that would grant heterosexual couples living together the same rights as married couples was approved yesterday by the Inner Cabinet, paving the way for its submission in Parliament.

The brainchild of Justice Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis, the draft bill would allow unmarried couples to acquire all the tax, insurance and social benefits currently only enjoyed by married couples simply by signing a standard notarial contract. Children born to unmarried couples – around 120,000 or 5 percent of the annual total of births – will also have all the rights, hereditary and otherwise, of children born to married parents.

The bill was given the thumbs-up by top ministers in a session chaired by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Hatzigakis stressed that the law would only apply to heterosexual couples, apparently laboring the point to quell speculation about the possible extension of this right to homosexual couples following the civil wedding ceremonies of two gay couples on the island of Tilos last week.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, whose reaction to last week’s gay weddings had been somewhat muted, yesterday emerged from its session to express its opposition to gay unions, stressing that they go against the teachings of the Church.

It was unclear if the announcement had been timed intentionally to coincide with the government’s debate of the cohabitation law.

The bill drafted by Hatzigakis – titled “Reforms for the Family and Society” – is not restricted to the cohabitation law. Among its additional provisions is one that foresees a swifter process for issuing divorces. If approved, married couples who file for divorce will have to wait only two years for the decision to be final, as compared to four years now. Another provision aims to accelerate the process for would-be parents seeking to adopt children.

Yet another aspect of the bill is geared toward protecting children from sexual abuse and issuing stricter penalties for convicted child molesters. Additional support would be granted to institutions offering support to children.
phantis.com