The bill on same sex marriage introduced to the Greek parliament plenary on Wednesday will be voted on Thursday.
Facing dissent from members of his own centre-right party, Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will need to rely on support from the left-wing opposition to get it through.
In granting the possibility of marriage to persons of the same sex, the draft bill "Equality in civil marriage, amendment of the Civil Code and other provisions" implements the constitutional principle of freedom and the constitutional principle of equality, Parliament's Scientific Service said in its report on the bill, which is going before the Parliament Plenary on Wednesday.
The Conference of Speakers of the House decided to allow two days for the debate and final vote, which will determine whether the bill becomes law.
In the previous days, during the processing of the draft law in the committees of the Parliament, the rapporteurs of ruling New Democracy, main opposition SYRIZA, and the opposition parties PASOK, New Left and Plefsis Eleftherias were in favour of the bill in principle. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Greek Solution, Niki and the Spartans were against the bill.
The Church of Greece argues this bill would confuse parental roles. The Holy Synod also expressed concerns on childbearing by same-sex couples. The leadership of the Church of Greece categorically expressed its opposition to same-sex marriage, while characterizing homosexuality as a "sin" and voicing its misgivings in a public appeal that was read at Sunday services.
