Discrimination and Civil Partnerships

In November 2013, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or ‘Court’) issued its first judgment on same-sex civil partnerships. In Vallianatos v Greece,1 the Grand Chamber held that exclusion of same-sex couples from the domestic civil partnership scheme violated prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the enjoyment of their right to personal and family life. Perhaps unsurprisingly the judgment spawned widespread disapproval in Greece. Days after its release, a leading bishop warned Greek MPs that whoever votes for legal recognition of same-sex partnerships will be excommunicated.2 This cautionary statement typifies the quintessential attitude of the Greek-Orthodox Church towards homosexuality, which has been described as ‘an insult to God and man; the most disgusting and unclean sin’.3 Notwithstanding that religion should not be reasonably expected to guide the legislature of a liberal secular state, conservative MPs soon started to lobby against the...

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