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GREEK lawyer Anastasios Samouilidis, above right, married his partner of 20 years—author Petros Hadjopoulos, a novelist who uses the pen name Auguste Corteau—shortly after Greece voted to legalise same-sex marriage in the face of still opposition from the Orthodox Church.

In a video posted on YouTube, Hadjopoulos said:

It’s a day of celebration, a day of joy, a day of great love, a dream we did not entertain when we were in our teens.

Last week, according to this report, the two became the first same-sex couple to get married in Athens’ city hall after the country legalised same-sex marriages three weeks ago in a signicant change for the Orthodox Christian country.

The civil wedding was celebrated by Athens’ mayor Haris Doukas on Thursday. Two dozen guests attended the event in the Greek capital’s city hall.

Hadjopoulos said there was a certain “symbolism” in their gesture.

I understand that [marriage] doesn’t work for everyone, but for people who grew up in Greece in the 1980s and 90s, when guys like us lived a very lonely existence, even symbols have a great value.

Doukas described the ceremony as a “historic moment,” adding that “every citizen of Athens […] should be able to live and love in the way they choose”.

Same-sex marriage was legalised by the Greek parliament with a vote on February 15 despite heated opposition from the socially conservative Orthodox Church.

Last Tuesday, Church officials on the island of Corfu imposed a religious ban on two local lawmakers who voted for the reform.

A statement from the bishopric of Corfu said:

For us, these two (local) lawmakers cannot consider themselves active members of the Church.

It added that they should be excluded from the key Christian rite of communion, abstain from any Church events and not be accorded formal honors by Church functionaries at official events or parish gatherings.

Church authorities on the northwestern island of Corfu accused the two opposition lawmakers of committing “the deepest spiritual and moral error” in voting for the law.

The recently passed law also gives full parental rights to married same-sex partners with children, though it doesn’t allow same-sex couples to use surrogacy in Greece.

Last year Estonia became the first Baltic country to legalise same-sex marriage.

The move came just two months after the country’s new liberal coalition government took office, and nine years after the country voted to introduce same-sex civil unions.

Last April, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, above, promised to legislate for same-sex marriage:

As fast as possible. Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to. With this decision we are finally stepping among … all the rest of the democratic countries in the world where marriage equality has been granted. This is a decision that does not take anything away from anyone but gives something important to many. It also shows that our society is caring and respectful towards each other. I am proud of Estonia.

“We are proud to become the first Baltic country to legalize same-sex marriage,” the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, added. 

During a vote in the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, 55 members of parliament voted in favour and 34 against.

Last month Kallas, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, was put on a “wanted list” of “criminals” by Russia along with Estonian State Secretary Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys.

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