Greece: Controversial same-sex marriage

Defying threats of prosecution and mounting public wrath, the mayor of a remote Greek island Tuesday performed the first same-sex marriages in the country. The International Herald Tribune reported that the weddings were for two men and two women. Greece: Controversial same-sex marriage The civil ceremonies, held at sunrise in the nondescript town hall of Tilos, a tiny island in the eastern Aegean, defied statements by a senior Greek prosecutor last week that such unions were illegal. "It's done now," the mayor, Anastassios Aliferis, said in an interview by telephone. "The unions have been registered and the licenses have been issued. It's a historic moment." With its abundance of glamorous gay bars and summer island resorts such as Mykonos, Greece has long drawn thousands of gay tourists annually. But gays and lesbians in this European Union country of 11 million people frequently report discrimination. Public displays of affection are widely frowned upon. The Greek military bars gays from joining its ranks, and in 1993 a private Greek television network, Mega Channel, was fined USD 116,000 by the National Radio and Television Council for showing men kissing in a weekly drama. The powerful Orthodox Church has also denounced homosexuality as a sin and "defect of human nature." On Tuesday, however, a bubbling, just-married Evangelia Vlami emerged from the Tilos town hall, telling the BBC that the unions would help end discrimination. "We did this to encourage other gay people to take a stand," she said. About two dozen people attended the no-frills ceremony, held under the watchful eyes of police officers and dumfounded locals. "I couldn't believe it," said Sofia Kamma, a resident contacted by phone. "I know they're people too, but couldn't they have gone on doing what they were doing without getting our community involved?" Greek gay rights groups have noted a loophole in a 1982 law that does not specify that a civil union must involve a man and woman. But last week, as the gay couples made plans to tie the knot, taking out a wedding notice in a local newspaper, the top prosecutor in Greece, Giorgos Sanidas, warned that any marriage between same-sex couples would be "automatically nullified and considered illegal." He said the decree was founded in the spirit of the Constitution, which defines marriage as matrimony between a man and a woman with the intent of forming a family. But Aliferis, a Socialist foe of the conservative government, insisted otherwise. "There is no court in Europe that will side by this arcane reading of the Constitution," he said. "What happens if a couple can not reproduce and have a family? Is their marriage null and void?" The mayor faces possible criminal charges for performing the ceremonies. Gay activists have warned that they may now begin to sue municipalities if the civil authorities resist requests for same-sex unions. The Netherlands was the first European Union country to offer full civil marriage rights to gay couples in 2001. Belgium did so in 2003, followed by Spain, despite fierce opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. Many other European Union countries have forms of civil unions for same-sex couples. "It's ludicrous for Greece, the cradle of democracy and human rights, to defy homosexuals equal rights and privileges," Aliferis said. "Officials should take the time and reassess their views." Gay activists have vowed to seek recourse with the European Court of Justice if the authorities in Greece continue to challenge same-sex marriages.

Greece: Controversial same-sex marriage

The civil ceremonies, held at sunrise in the nondescript town hall of Tilos, a tiny island in the eastern Aegean, defied statements by a senior Greek prosecutor last week that such unions were illegal.

"It's done now," the mayor, Anastassios Aliferis, said in an interview by telephone. "The unions have been registered and the licenses have been issued. It's a historic moment."

With its abundance of glamorous gay bars and summer island resorts such as Mykonos, Greece has long drawn thousands of gay tourists annually. But gays and lesbians in this European Union country of 11 million people frequently report discrimination.

Public displays of affection are widely frowned upon. The Greek military bars gays from joining its ranks, and in 1993 a private Greek television network, Mega Channel, was fined USD 116,000 by the National Radio and Television Council for showing men kissing in a weekly drama.

The powerful Orthodox Church has also denounced homosexuality as a sin and "defect of human nature."

On Tuesday, however, a bubbling, just-married Evangelia Vlami emerged from the Tilos town hall, telling the BBC that the unions would help end discrimination.

"We did this to encourage other gay people to take a stand," she said.

About two dozen people attended the no-frills ceremony, held under the watchful eyes of police officers and dumfounded locals.

"I couldn't believe it," said Sofia Kamma, a resident contacted by phone. "I know they're people too, but couldn't they have gone on doing what they were doing without getting our community involved?"

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

But last week, as the gay couples made plans to tie the knot, taking out a wedding notice in a local newspaper, the top prosecutor in Greece, Giorgos Sanidas, warned that any marriage between same-sex couples would be "automatically nullified and considered illegal."

He said the decree was founded in the spirit of the Constitution, which defines marriage as matrimony between a man and a woman with the intent of forming a family.

But Aliferis, a Socialist foe of the conservative government, insisted otherwise.

"There is no court in Europe that will side by this arcane reading of the Constitution," he said. "What happens if a couple can not reproduce and have a family? Is their marriage null and void?"

The mayor faces possible criminal charges for performing the ceremonies.

Gay activists have warned that they may now begin to sue municipalities if the civil authorities resist requests for same-sex unions.

The Netherlands was the first European Union country to offer full civil marriage rights to gay couples in 2001. Belgium did so in 2003, followed by Spain, despite fierce opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.

Many other European Union countries have forms of civil unions for same-sex couples.

"It's ludicrous for Greece, the cradle of democracy and human rights, to defy homosexuals equal rights and privileges," Aliferis said. "Officials should take the time and reassess their views."

Gay activists have vowed to seek recourse with the European Court of Justice if the authorities in Greece continue to challenge same-sex marriages.