Confetti rains down in Athens as same-sex marriage bill passes in Greece

Confetti rained down on the streets of Athens as crowds celebrated Greece becoming the first Orthodox Christian nation to legalise same-sex marriage under civil law on Thursday, 15 February.

A cross-party majority of 176 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted in favor of the bill drafted by Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right government.

Seventy-six rejected the reform, 46 were not present, and two abstained from the vote.

Same-sex couples' parental rights will be recognised under the bill, but it will not allow gay men to have biological children through surrogate mothers in Greece.