Anti-LGBTQ+ Greek priests urge prime minister to block same-sex marriage
(Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A rabble of priests from the Greek Orthodox Church are urging prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to oppose same-sex marriage, calling it a “deviation and perversion of nature”.
The priests have signed a letter to the PM in response to a national campaign video advocating for same-sex marriage called “Say Yes” (“Pes to Nai”).
The video highlights four LGBT+ couples across four different generations, 1952, 1974, 2004 and 2022. It opens with the words, “we have always been here” and urges viewers to sign a petition to legalise same-sex marriage.
However, the priests are trying to prevent Greece from joining the 21st century and legalising same-sex marriage. According to Neoskosmos, the priests whined in their letter that their stance is a “testimony to the church”.
They went on to say that the LGBTQ+ community and allies trying to legalise same-sex marriage is an “old story” and that they have “pressured governments and parties for years to legally recognise sexual deviance”.
The letter also states that the Greek Orthodox Church will not accept a law of this nature to pass, will only accept heterosexual marriages and will not “accept any other kind of marriage for its members”.
The priests also found the time to take a swipe at trans people too, saying: “Even those Christians who maintain a loose relationship with the church know that God created two sexes, male and female,” and that there is “no third sex”.
Despite the LGBTQ+ community in Greece making strides in 2015 and winning the right to be registered as same-sex partners, there is still an uphill battle to see same-sex marriage legalised.
Greece is one of the few European countries remaining where same-sex marriage is not legal. Italy, Estonia and the Czech Republic are like Greece in that they allow legal partnerships, but marriage is a no-go.
Despite the letter from the church, the Greek queer community recently won a crucial victory in January this year when an archaic law banning gay men from donating blood was finally lifted.
