Greece’s parliament has approved a bill allowing same-sex civil marriage in a landmark victory for supporters of LGBT rights.
Thousands gathered on the streets of Athens as the news was received with cheers.
The decision, which allows same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, comes after decades of lobbying by the LGBT community for marriage equality in the socially conservative country.
Greece is among the first Orthodox Christian countries to legalise such partnerships.
The bill was approved by 176 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament and will become law when its published in the official government gazette.
Although members of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right New Democracy party abstained or voted against the bill, it gained enough support from the leftist opposition in a rare show of cross-party unity despite a tense debate.
Recent opinion polls show Greeks are split on the issue.
The powerful Orthodox Church, which believes homosexuality is a sin, has strongly opposed same-sex marriage, while many in the LGBT community believe the bill does not go far enough.
It does not overturn obstacles for LGBT couples in using assisted reproduction methods. Surrogate pregnancies will also not be extended to LGBT individuals, though the bill recognises children already born through that method abroad.
Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, a New Democracy lawmaker, said: “Of course I will vote against it. The marriage of same-sex couples… is not a human right.”
Campaigners have been pushing for change for decades, often against the tide of the Church and right wing politicians.
In 2008, a lesbian and a gay couple defied the law and married on the tiny island of Tilos, but their weddings were later annulled by a top court.
But there have been some steps in recent years.
In 2015, Greece allowed civil partnership among same-sex couples, and in 2017 it gave legal recognition to gender identity.
Two years ago it banned conversion therapy for minors aimed at suppressing a person’s sexual orientation.
