"Soon, we'll officially be a real family," said a delighted Rebecca Camhi, who has been in a relationship with Marina Comninou for eight years and is already in a civil union. Their wedding day will not be long in coming. The Greek Parliament is due to vote on Thursday, February 15, on the legalization of marriage for all and adoption for same-sex couples. While 10 or so MPs from the conservative majority plan to abstain or vote against, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis can count on support from the left to push the bill through.

Described as a "great step forward" by Camhi and Comninou, the legislation would make Greece, where church and state are not separate, the first country with an Orthodox majority to take this step.

A famous gallery owner in Athens, Camhi has a 20-year-old daughter, Anatolie, who is studying in Italy. "I had a great desire for a child and decided to have one with a man, but we weren't a couple. My daughter always knew that I had relationships with women," she said, speaking from her little house, decorated like a work of art. At school, Anatolie hid the truth about her parents for some time, for fear of negative reactions. "I explained to her that our family wasn't ordinary. But as time went by, she realized that being different wasn't a problem," said her mother.

Camhi, who is in her fifties, knows what she's talking about. Coming from a Sephardic Jewish family (her aunt survived, as a child, by hiding on the island of Skopelos) Camhi has never felt part of the "norm" in a Greek society that is over 90% Orthodox. "I am part of a minority already," she said. "This law will change Greek society's perspective on our families and, especially for new generations, it serves as a reminder that respect for difference and equal rights for all citizens is essential in our democracy."

In 2015, Greece legalized civil partnership for same-sex couples, but in the case of families with children, only the biological parent has rights over them and can make decisions in the event of health problems. Children cannot inherit from the non-biological parent and, in the event of the death of the recognized parent, the state automatically withdraws custody from the other. "The worst situation is that of children born to surrogate mothers abroad, who can't even be registered with the civil registry or have access to social security. This could not continue, and the European Union pushed the Greek government to take measures to remedy the situation," said Vassilis Sotiropoulos, a lawyer representing LGBT+ families.

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