Tag Archives: Greece

Reuters reports: Greece’s parliament approved a bill allowing same-sex civil marriage on Thursday, a landmark victory for supporters of LGBT rights that was greeted with cheers by onlookers in parliament and dozens gathered on the streets of Athens. The law gives same-sex couples the right to wed and adopt children and comes after decades of campaigning by the LGBT community …

The Associated Press reports: Thousands of protesters gathered in central Athens on Sunday to oppose legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Greece. Greece’s conservative government is sponsoring the bill but it will require votes from center and left opposition parties to be approved. However, even some center-left lawmakers have gone on record as opposing the bill. Organizers of Sunday’s …

The Associated Press reports: Greece’s center-right government said Thursday it would fulfill a commitment to legalize same-sex marriage, sidestepping staunch opposition from the country’s influential Orthodox Church. The legislation would be brought to parliament during the house’s current term, which ends in 2027. The statement comes after the Church’s governing Holy Synod issued a 1,500-word opinion late Wednesday, expressing strong …

Bloomberg News reports: Members of Greece’s leftist Syriza party elected Stefanos Kasselakis to head the country’s second-largest political party after the resignation of former leader Alexis Tsipras in June following a free fall in support for his party in two general elections earlier this year. Syriza’s new president also becomes the first openly-gay person to lead a Greek political party …

The Telegraph reports: Greek police have arrested an Orthodox priest on the island of Rhodes for allegedly molesting a male tourist by “anointing” his genitals with holy oil. The holidaymaker encountered the priest, 49, when he visited a monastery on the island with his girlfriend earlier this week. The priest invited him into a small reception room in the monastery …

Bloomberg News reports: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to legalize same-sex marriage, a huge step forward for LGBTQ rights in a region where some conservative governments are cracking down on the community. “Same-sex marriage will happen at some point and it’s part of our strategy,” Mitsotakis, a center-right politician, said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Athens. …

Reuters reports: A passenger train and a cargo train collided head-on in Greece on Tuesday night, killing at least 36 people and injuring dozens as the country’s deadliest rail crash in living memory threw entire carriages off the tracks. Many of the victims were thought to be university students on their way back from a long holiday weekend. The death …

The Daily Beast reports: Four European Union leaders have been charged with participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption, tied to alleged bribes from FIFA World Cup host Qatar. Raids on diplomats’ homes in Brussels and Strasbourg, where the E.U. parliament meets, uncovered “bags of money.” Greek EU vice president Eva Kaili—who is languishing in a Belgium jail …

CBS News reports: Vangelis, the Greek electronic composer who wrote the unforgettable Academy Award-winning score for the film “Chariots of Fire” and music for dozens of other movies, documentaries and TV series, has died at 79. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and other government officials expressed their condolences Thursday. Greek media reported that Vangelis — born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou — …

The Greek Reporter reports: Greece banned conversion therapy, or a widely criticized method of attempting to change one’s sexual or gender identity, for minors on Wednesday. The bill, which passed in parliament, will impose hefty fines and even prison terms on psychologists and other mental health professionals who conduct conversion therapy on LGBT minors without their explicit consent. Additionally, advertising …

The Associated Press reports: Greece imposed a vaccination mandate Monday for people 60 and older, as the country’s vaccination rate remains below the European Union average and a spike in infections has put sustained pressure on Greek hospitals. Older people failing to get vaccinated will face penalties, starting at a 50-euro ($57) fine in January and followed by a monthly …

Reuters reports: Greece is introducing new restrictions on the hospitality sector from Thursday, bringing forward measures planned for early January as coronavirus infections surge. Bars, nightclubs and restaurants will be forced to close at midnight, with no standing customers and no music, with the exception of New Year’s Eve when then can stay open until 2 a.m.. “These measures, if …

The Independent reports: Greece has appointed its first openly gay minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle. Nicholas Yatromanolakis made history after he was named the new deputy minister of culture on Monday. The 44-year-old was promoted from his role as general secretary of contemporary culture at the same department. The appointment which made him the first openly gay minister …

Britain’s Metro reports: Church of Cyprus bishop Neophytos Masouras has claimed women enjoying anal sex while pregnant is the reason that gay people exist. Speaking at a primary school in Akaki, Cyprus, he claimed that the enjoyment the mother experiences transfers to the foetus, making the child gay. In a video translated by Metro.co.uk translators, he said: “It happens during …

Reuters reports: When Chloe Kritharas Devienne was asked to photograph 28 couples kissing and cuddling in Greece while holding a bar of Lacta chocolate, she did not expect to be attacked by trolls. The Valentine’s Day adverts for the popular chocolate brand were the first to feature same-sex and interracial couples in Greece, a conservative country where the Orthodox Church …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday held a press conference in the White House Rose Garden with visiting Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece. This was the president’s second such media briefing in two days. On Monday, Trump held a previously unscheduled press event with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also in the Rose Garden. Trump on Tuesday …

Euronews reports: Supporters of the far-right Golden Dawn have taken to the streets of the Greek capital, Athens, in an anti-immigration protest. Marchers expressed fury at the number of migrants remaining in Greece since the closure of the Balkan route into Europe. Golden Dawn parliamentarian Ilias Panagiotaros likes what he sees from across the Atlantic: “We don’t see any EU-Turkey …

Over the loud objections of the Orthodox Church and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party, the Greek Parliament just approved same-sex civil unions by a wide margin. Earlier this month an Orthodox bishop called on his followers to literally spit on any lawmaker who votes in favor of civil unions, saying, “Deprecate them! Vote against them! They are not human! They …

A few days ago a Greek Orthodox bishop called on his followers to literally spit on any lawmaker who votes in favor of the civil unions bill due to be heard on December 22nd. The Guardian today reports that Greek LGBT activists will be suing the bishop for his “untrammeled hate speech.” Here’s a reminder of what the bishop wrote: …

The Greek Parliament, at long last, is due to consider a civil unions bill. And that has a bishop with the Greek Orthodox Church ready to literally spit with rage. Via the Greek Reporter: The Holy Synod decided to adhere to its previous position, namely that the Church of Greece denounces alternative family forms because they are a devaluation of …