Mitsotakis: "We will legalize marriage equality"

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave an in-depth interview, “showing his cards” about the bill he intends to introduce on the marriage of same-sex couples, as well as the reaction within New Democracy.

“What we will legislate is marriage equality.”said Kyriakos Mitsotakis regarding the bill on same-sex couples.

“Marriage is a conservative institution, it implies a sense of permanence. I will not introduce anything revolutionary, 20 European countries have already passed laws – 15 of them are in EUwe will not open America”he said in an interview with ERT.

Regarding the differences expressed, the Prime Minister emphasized: “I respect all opinions, I do not want to split Greek society. I absolutely respect our fellow citizens who have a different opinion, but I also respect the Church. The Church was against civil marriages and cremation of the dead, and the state passed the law, respecting the role of the Church. We We will listen to the opinion of the Church, but legislation is adopted by the state, it does not compromise with the Church,” – he said.

He emphasized that “The church stands for love. And I think that when someone hears the human stories behind certain people, behind families that are just different from the way we used to understand family, I think a lot of people might change their view of this question”.

“I want this debate to mature in society before putting anything forward for a recommendation by the council of ministers,” – said Mitsotakis.

“Let me tell you one more thing that I think is important: you know, major family law reforms have always been driven by the center-left, and generally the center-right parties have lagged behind developments.”– he said.

He added that in 1982, “When the great revolution in family law took place, New Democracy voted against provisions that now seem absolutely obvious to us: the decriminalization of adultery, the criminalization of domestic violence, the ability for women to keep their surname. So you see society moving forward.”

What about same-sex couples adopting children?
In addition to the law, the Prime Minister noted: “I think that the majority of our fellow citizens have no significant objections to marriage. Where there is always a reservation, and I hear it with great concern, they say: ‘children,’ ‘what about children.’ So let’s go and see , what will happen and what should happen to children. Today children exist. And I don’t think anyone questions the reality: that same-sex couples have children, and these children will not cease to exist, they will not disappear. But, however , these children, you know, don’t have equal rights.”

“Why don’t they have equal rights? Let me tell you a story from your show. A mother who lives with her partner has cancer and may die. If this happens, her partner has no rights to the child. No rights. This child will end up in an institution. And I ask frankly, looking into the eyes of all those who may view this issue with some reservations: are we serving the rights of children who already exist by not regulating those few children, those few couples who ultimately care about this issue? ? And he worries them very much, you know. A child born abroad cannot become a Greek citizen because we simply do not recognize marriages in Greece.

And I’m wondering, because I hear a lot about the problem of bullying, and I’m concerned about this too: when is there more or less bullying? When does this happen in secret or when do we discuss these issues openly? I think that most likely this falls into the first category, because such children exist,” – Mitsotakis noted.

How is this different from Kasselakis’ proposal?
He noted that the government’s proposal differs significantly from SYRIZA’s proposal. And he explained the following: “We will not interfere with the assisted reproduction regime at all. This concept, that is, women turned into machines for producing children on demand, as the leader of the opposition said: ‘I want a boy, and I don’t care who gives birth to him,’ – this is not will. I want to be absolutely clear, which is why we are not doing anything in assisted reproduction. We don’t change anything. This is a significant departure from Syriza’s offering.”

“But I want to say something else: Most European countries have already done what we want to do. They haven’t moved two steps further. And when I say we will move forward as a society, move forward, yes, we haven’t We will become a laboratory for experimentation in Greece. We will not experiment with the most advanced ideas on rights issues.

I mean, for example, that a man alone could use the services of a surrogate mother to have a child. This will not be allowed in Greece. So I’m very clear about what we will do and very clear about what we won’t do. There will be no “Parent 1”, “Parent 2” in the bill.

A man alone can adopt a child. Because we won’t put an ethics officer in his house. Perhaps tomorrow this man will want to move in with someone else. We have already given him the right to adoption. That’s why I think this conversation makes sense. Precisely because it is very difficult, and we have to explain to people exactly what we are doing, what we are not doing, what is legal, what is not legal, and ultimately this is my main concern, and I have to tell you that I have made the final decision about that I want to promote this bill when I heard the stories of children. We are talking primarily about those children who are there.

Homosexuality is not a “fad of the times”, it has existed since the very beginning of the human race, so children existed, exist, and may exist in the future. And we must somehow be able to regulate their rights.”said the Prime Minister.

“I will not impose party discipline”

“This is a matter of conscience. I will not impose party discipline on members of parliament, I have said this from the very first moment. Members of parliament vote, not ministers. And in their parliamentary capacity they come to this vote. But obviously, when a person is a minister, then he has more commitment to the collective decision made by the cabinet,” – Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted regarding the “blue” differences expressed by government ministers.

“I want to remind you that bills are approved by the Council of Ministers, by ministers. But I would also tell you that this is a detail, because I know very well that in order for this bill to be passed, since, in my estimation, not all members members of parliament from New Democracy will vote for him, obviously it is important to be able to convince members of parliament from other parties to vote for him.”he added.

“Androulakis is using the issue of human rights for his own purposes”
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was asked to comment on PASOK President’s statement on Harilaou Trikoupis’ position on the same-sex couples bill, saying that “PASOK will not tie the government’s shoes,” stated that “Mr. Androulakis uses the issue of human rights, this is what he tells us: “If I can create a problem for New Democracy, beware, on an issue in which I myself begin by not putting party discipline.” “So that I don’t care, says Mr. Androulakis, what the bill says, as long as I can create a problem for New Democracy.”

He added, referring to his decision not to impose party discipline on New Democracy MPs: “Why am I doing this? Because it is very important not to be divided on this issue, it is a matter of society not to be divided. We should have our opinions, but some people will benefit from this, they will benefit significantly, in the sense that we decide for them real problem. We are not harming anyone else, no one is being harmed by such a question. Someone may disagree, but he will not be harmed. We are not taking something away from someone to give it to someone else. We are taking an important step in terms of respecting the human rights of a small part of our fellow citizens.”

The Prime Minister, however, expressed optimism that “as soon as we bring the bill, we can pass it. That is my intention. But this is a completely different matter, because since, as I already said, I myself do not impose party discipline, then it is up to me and those who believe in it responsibility for persuasion. That’s why I talked about the cart and horse talk, which was a little misunderstood by the Leader of the Opposition.”

“Abstinence is a worthy position”
When asked whether he would “induce” dissenting ND deputies to abstain from voting on the bill on same-sex couples, Mitsotakis replied that “There are many parliamentary options,” noting that “abstention is an honorable position in which to express disagreement, that is, not voting yes without causing problems for the government majority. This is a choice that members of parliament can have.”

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