With local residents and LGBT activists as witnesses, two same-sex marriages were performed for the first time in Greece on June 3. Anastassios Aliferis, the mayor of Tilos, a small island in Greece, performed the ceremonies.
A loophole in a 1982 law describing wedding ceremonies as being between “people,” not a man and a woman, was discovered by community activists. Giorgos Sanidas, a Supreme Court prosecutor, has brought charges against the mayor and has declared that same-sex marriages are illegal.
LGBT activists have said that they will sue municipalities that refuse to recognize or perform same-sex marriages.
Evangelia Vlami, one of the newlyweds and a member of the Lesbian and Gay Community of Greece, said, “From this day, discrimination against gays in Greece is on the decline. We did this to encourage other gay people to take a stand.”
