JUST IN: Greece Becomes 1st Orthodox Christian Country to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

Greece became the first nation of Orthodox Christians to allow same-sex civil marriage on Thursday, despite the powerful and socially orthodox Greek Church’s objections.

The historic bill proposed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right cabinet received a late Thursday vote in favor from 176 members representing a cross-party majority in the 300-seat parliament. 46 members of the house were absent, two abstained from the vote, and another 76 rejected the proposal.

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Mitsotakis tweeted after the vote that Greece “is proud to become the 16th (European Union) country to legislate marriage equality.”

“This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece — a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values,” he wrote.

Earlier, people opposed to the bill had also protested nearby, holding prayer books and religious icons, AP reports.

Opinion polls suggest that most Greeks support the reform by a narrow margin, and the issue has failed to trigger deep divisions in a country more worried about the high cost of living.

Polls show that while most Greeks agree to same-sex weddings they also reject extending parenthood through surrogacy to male couples. Same-sex civil partnerships have been allowed in Greece since 2015. But that only conferred legal guardianship to the biological parents of children in those relationships, leaving their partners in a bureaucratic limbo.