Same sex-marriage divides Greek public as legal recognition draws near
euronews.comYears before starting a family of her own, Stella Belia, head of the Greek same-sex family support group Rainbow Families, was already waging a tireless campaign for legal recognition.
This week, just a few months shy of her twin boys’ 17th birthday, her fight may finally be over.Greek lawmakers are expected to legalise same-sex marriage in a parliament vote on Thursday.
Approval would make Greece the first Orthodox Christian country to take that step, clearing multiple legal hurdles for gay couples who already have or want to have children.“I’ve been fighting for this ever since I figured out who I was,” says Belia, a 57-year-old drama teacher with a gruff voice and an easy laugh.“And it’s a great relief to say we’ve finally made it.
But it is tiresome, very tiresome to fight for something that’s an obvious right – to suffer for something that other people are just handed – and have to fight so hard to get it.”While Belia and her female partner split when her sons were aged 11, she still considers her ex to be the boys’ other mother.Although civil partnerships were extended to gay couples in Greece nearly a decade ago, only the biological parents of children in those relationships are currently recognised as legal guardians.The issue of children’s rights, including the publicissed plight of cancer survivors in a same-sex relationship, helped nudge public opinion toward narrowly favouring the bill.For Chrysa Gkotsopoulou and Elena Kotsifi, the new law would allow them to feel seen in their own country.
