The intention of the newly elected chief of the main opposition Syriza party (EU Left), Greece’s first openly gay political party leader, to push forward the legalisation of same-sex marriage was a wake-up call for the conservative government to speed up its LGBTIQ agenda.
Stefanos Kasselakis was elected in the leadership of leftist Syriza on 24 September, causing shockwaves in Greek politics.
A ‘stranger’ becomes Greek left boss, shakes political system
Analysts and political parties are still trying to understand how a 35-year-old US resident and businessman, previously unknown in Greece, managed to win the main opposition Syriza party’s leadership in what is described as a “metapolitics” phenomenon.
Stefanos Kasselakis was born …
Before the elections, Kasselakis said he seeks to legalise same-sex marriage while also criticising conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (EPP) for having delayed such a measure.
“When it comes to human rights […] the argument everything comes in its time does not exist”, he said, slamming the conservative government for not having moved on with the legislation for four years.
A ‘wake-up’ call for conservatives
Shortly after being reelected in July 2023, Mitsotakis expressed his intention to legalise same-sex marriage in an interview with Bloomberg, following creating a committee in 2021 to draft a national LGBTQI+ strategy.
Greece’s committee was created after the launch of the European Commission’s LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025, calling on EU countries to develop plans to end discrimination.
“Same-sex marriage will happen at some point, and it’s part of our strategy,” Mitsotakis said last summer, adding that “Greek society is much more ready and mature.”
Euractiv understands the Greek prime minister has delayed taking a step on the topic, fearing a fierce reaction from the party’s far-right faction.
Two days after Kasselakis’s election in the leadership of the Greek left, Alexis Patoulis, a close aide of Mitsotakis, revealed for the first time that he is married to his partner abroad and noted that the issue of same-sex marriage will come for voting in the Greek parliament.
“The prime minister said he believes in marriage equality and will bring this to the parliament. Obviously, the timing is his decision, but I think society has shown us that it’s not their number one concern”, Patoulis said.
Kasselakis’ liberal agenda has raised eyebrows in the ruling party, considering that Mitsotakis has captured the liberal space in Greece’s political spectrum.
Fearing a loss of liberal votes to the opposition, it is estimated that the ‘timing’ of the Greek same-sex marriage legalisation will be sped up. However, the stance of the ultra-conservative lawmakers within the ruling party is still to be seen.
Greece’s LGBTIQ+ stance in Europe
Despite delays in recognising same-sex marriages, Greece is steadily increasing its protection of LGBTI+ rights, escalating four positions from the previous edition to 13th place in the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) 2023 annual review.
According to ILGA’s LGBTIQ+ rights tracker, Greece is currently fulfilling 57% of the detailed list of rights and freedoms assessed to calculate the country’s performance, especially lacking in family and asylum rights.
If Kasselakis were to become Greece’s prime minister in the future, he would follow a short list of queer European country leaders, including Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.
(Max Griera – Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com)
Read more with EURACTIV
Inefficient use of EU funds costs Slovakia ‘three hospitals yearly’
Source: euractiv.com
