OPA! Greece legalizes same-sex marriage!
Defies the church to become the first Eastern Orthodox country with equal marriage
Greece: Opa! The Greek Parliament just passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption in a tense roll-call vote, late Thursday evening local time. The bill treats same-sex couples equal to heterosexual couples in all but one respect – gay couples will not have access to surrogacy within Greece. I’ll have more details on this tomorrow.
Greece is the first Eastern Orthodox Christian country to legalize same sex marriage (the others being Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Moldova, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, and Georgia). It is also one of the last of the original 15 EU members to legalize it – leaving only Italy as an outlier for now.
But that isn’t the only same-sex marriage news today.
Czechia: The parliamentary committee examining the same-sex marriage bill whiffed at all the options presented to it. The committee voted down the amendment that would enable “all-but-the-word-marriage” registered partnerships, including recognition of adoption and parenting rights. But the committee couldn’t agree on any recommendation on other amendments, including those creating partnerships without parenting rights. From what I’m understanding, this means that the bill and all of the proposed amendments will go back to the plenary session for a final decision – and MPs will vote on them from most expansive to most restrictive. That means, they vote for full marriage first, then if that doesn’t pass, expanded partnerships with some parenting rights, etc.
Whatever passes may then face an even rockier road in the Czech Senate, which recently narrowly voted down the Istanbul Convention over idiotic worries that it supported LGBT rights. Still, yesterday the Senate president came out strongly in favor of equality for same-sex couples (whether they use the word “marriage” or not.
Japan: Activists marked 5 years since the start of legal proceedings in a set of coordinated constitutional challenges seeking equal marriage by handing out colored chocolates. More appeals are being heard right now, and the next two rulings are expected on March 14.
Muscogee Nation: The Native American jurisdiction in Oklahoma, USA will be examining its own same-sex marriage bill in committee session later today (5pm local time).
As a reminder, I’m also tracking a marriage bill in Liechtenstein due next month, a Cassation Court ruling for Aruba and Curacao due in early March, and a bill in Thailand expected to pass in June.
Costa Rica: The Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Security Fund must provide maternity and paternity leave to same-sex couples on an equal basis with heterosexual couples. The forthcoming written ruling is expected to explain in further detail, but the court ruled this was generally in the best interests of the children.
India: Following a court order, the Madras (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) government has begun consultations with the LGBT community on including them in social policy.
Turkiye: The state broadcaster has announced it plans to air an English-language anti-LGBT digital documentary series. The fact that the documentary is presented in English suggests that the Edrogan government is now focusing on exporting its anti-LGBT hatred.
Meanwhile, in the States…
West Virginia: The state house advanced a so-called “Women’s Bill of Rights” that strips rights away from trans people without advancing any rights for any women. In fact, the bill says “equal” doesn’t mean “same” or “identical” when it comes to equality of sexes, which sure seems like a way to strip women’s rights further. The bill defines sex as immutable from birth, legally erasing trans people and barring them from gender-appropriate facilities like bathrooms. It heads to the state senate, where the GOP is expected to pass it.