Source: Pink News, BBC News
Gay activists in Greece find that they have, at least temporarily, become strange political bedfellows with the Greek Orthodox Church in opposing a draft parliamentary bill that would allow unmarried couples to make their relationship legally binding, by signing a simple notarial contract.

The government, attempting to harmonize Greek law to European standards, proposes to give common-law couples the same rights as those who have gone through legal or religious ceremonies.

But the new law would apply only to heterosexual couples. 

Greek gay rights group Olke plans to actively lobby the Greek government and have slammed what they perceive as an unlawful draft bill.

And that's where they find themselves in rare, partial agreement with the country's dominant church which is also staunchly opposed to the draft law.

But the Church is even more strongly opposed to any law that would grant greater rights to lesbian and gay couples.

The Church's governing synod said it considered all common-law marriages to be tantamount to "prostitution".

In its statement, the Church said that the proposal constituted a "catastrophic bomb" under the foundations of Greek society.

The leader of the Church, Archbishop Ieronimos, who was elected in February, had last week refused to comment on the government's plans, saying they came under the jurisdiction of civil authorities.

But the synod has now taken a different view.

Greek government policy, like the church's, is still steadfastly anti-gay.

Gay marriage has long been opposed and gays are still barred from entering the military.

However, homosexuals in Greece are still seeking a greater voice within their country in recent years, which culminated in the first Gay Pride parade in 2005.

A Greek lesbian couple in Athens are due to attempt to marry in a civil ceremony in the country's first same-sex marriage.

The current law does not explicitly proclaim a civil union must take place between a man and a woman. The couple are hoping to take advantage.

The ceremony is set to take place in the Kessariani quarter of Athens and will be officiated by the town's mayor, Spyros Tzokas - a man whose party, Syriza, is radically left-wing.

Full article: Greek Orthodox church slams rights for unmarried couples | Pink News
Row over Greek unmarried couples | BBC News