海角大神

When Yolanda Kalantzi and Georgia Ampatzidou fell in love eight years ago, they said the idea of getting married was 鈥渟cience fiction鈥� in deeply conservative Greece, where LGBT+ couples cannot wed or adopt.

Now they have a tentative wedding date for spring, tease each other about their ballooning guest list, and are already considering outfits and flowers.

The conservative government聽submitted a聽bill to parliament Feb. 1 that legalizes聽same-sex聽civil marriage. The legislation is expected to pass given Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis鈥� center-right party majority, and likely support from leftist lawmakers later this month.

If it does, it will make Greece one of the first Orthodox 海角大神 countries to adopt such measures and will be a landmark victory for couples like Ms. Kalantzi and Ms. Ampatzidou who have campaigned for equality.

鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 even think about it, imagine it, or dream about it,鈥� Ms. Kalantzi, an oceanographer, said at the couple鈥檚 apartment in the northern聽Greek聽city of Thessaloniki.

The couple have a 3-year-old son, but only his biological mother Ms. Kalantzi is recognized as a parent by the state. Under the bill, Ms. Ampatzidou will be able to adopt him and enjoy equal parental rights, if they marry.

鈥淥nly when we saw the text of the bill with our own eyes did we slowly start dreaming,鈥� said Ms. Kalantzi.

Greece鈥檚 powerful Orthodox Church believes homosexuality is a sin and openly opposes the bill. But many in the LGBT+ community believe it does not go far enough.

Ms. Ampatzidou and Ms. Kalantzi want to have a second child, but the bill does not overturn obstacles for LGBT+ couples in using assisted reproduction methods. The mothers said they have already been turned down twice by IVF centers.

鈥淚nvisible children鈥� in the eyes of the state

Surrogate pregnancies will also not be extended to LGBT+ couples and individuals, according to the draft bill, which recognizes children already born through that method abroad. That ban has already affected countless people.

Athens-based radiologist Angelos Michailides, spent four years and his life savings finding a surrogate mother in the United States.

He now has two 3-year-old twins, but they are not recognized as citizens 鈥� Greek聽registry offices require the name of a mother 鈥� and have no access to public education or healthcare.

鈥淚n Greece, it is as if they don鈥檛 exist,鈥� he said as his twin daughters played cheerfully in the background. 鈥淭hey are invisible children.鈥�

Addressing those issues, Mr. Mitsotakis told his cabinet last month that 鈥淕reece will not become a laboratory of policies which are only applied in a few countries.鈥�

He has said the reform bill is not aimed to be revolutionary but rather to align Greece with other countries in the European Union adhering to an EU strategy that sets goals for LGBT+ rights in the 2020-2025 period.

Growing recognition of same-sex couples

Greece lags behind much of Europe in聽LGBT+ rights, but over the past decade, it has recognized cohabitation agreements for聽same-sex聽couples and聽banned conversion therapy聽for minors aimed at suppressing a person鈥檚聽sexual orientation.

Polls show聽Greeks are split on LGBT+ marriage. But Mr. Mitsotakis, whose New Democracy party has an eight-seat majority in the 300-seat parliament, hopes to win over the center-left with the reforms.

The bill, which is subject to changes during a聽parliamentary committee debate, needs at least 75 votes to pass.聽It is expected to be put to a vote by mid-February.

鈥淭his particular reform confers and gives more rights to a previously invisible social group of people,鈥� said the bill鈥檚 sponsor, State Minister Akis Skertsos. The government, he said, respects any different views but is determined to proceed.

鈥淥ur country should become fairer ..., more prosperous, more European every day,鈥� he told Reuters.

For all its perceived shortfalls, the bill is a major step forward for Ms. Kalantzi and Ms. Ampatzidou, who hope to marry in May. Ms. Kalantzi wrote a letter to the prime minister last month, urging him to propose the bill.

鈥淚t is time, Mr. Mitsotakis, for our anguish, our pain, our disappointment to end,鈥� she wrote.

Whatever the outcome, their son has little doubt about who his parents are, legal or not.

On a bookshelf, propped up by a toy airplane and a miniature rubber whale, is a drawing of a heart and a scrawled message.

鈥淢ommy Georgia, Mommy Yolanda, I love you to the moon.鈥�

This story was reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Thomson Reuters staff Renee Maltezou, Edward McAllister, and Mark Heinrich contributed to this report.聽