The first GPO poll for 2024, published in Parapolitika on Saturday, captures the political climate at the beginning of the new year, with the public debate dominated by the issue of same-sex marriage and parenting.
GPO Poll: At 20.6%, the gap between the ruling New Democracy and the second-party PASOK
According to the poll, the gap between ND and PASOK is recorded at 20.6%. However, the fact that 38.8% estimate that there is space to the right of the centrist ruling party is interesting. For a new right-wing party, 13.9% say they would vote for it.
Voting intention:
ND: 32.9%
PASOK - KINAL: 12.3%
SYRIZA (the official opposition party): 10.1%
Communist Party of Greece (KKE): 8.3%
Spartans: 1.9%
Greek Solution: 6%
Victory: 2.7%
Freedom Sailing: 2.7%
MeRA25: 2.1%
New Left: 1.9%
Other: 2.7%
White, invalid: 1.2%
Will not vote: 2.1%
Undecided: 13.1%
48.1% in favour of same-sex marriage and 49.8% against
Regarding the issue of same-sex marriage, Greek society appears divided, with 48.1% in favour and 49.8% against.
The overwhelming majority of SYRIZA and KKE voters are in favour. 78.9%, of ND voters do not support same-sex parenting. In the entire sample, 68.9% are against the right to adoption, compared to 29.6% who are positive.
A poll by Pulse for Skai gathered responses from 1,107 participants between December 18 and 20 and found that 52% of respondents harbour a positive view on same-sex marriage, with a notable 20% in full support and an additional 32% expressing no objection. A substantial minority of 33% would prefer that same-sex marriage not be legalised in Greece.
According to an ALCO poll, the ruling New Democracy is recording losses due to the debate on same-sex marriage, mainly towards the right-wing Greek Solution, with 49% openly disagreeing with same-sex marriage (58% among New Democracy voters), while 35% of respondents appear in favour (28% of New Democracy voters).
Greece’s government set to legalise same-sex marriage with the backing of the opposition
A plan to legalise same-sex civil marriage and adoption pushed by the centre-right Greek government is set to be approved by Parliament thanks to the backing of the left-wing opposition, despite backlash from the Orthodox Church.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s plans to legalise same-sex marriage in the country and allow adoption for LGBTQ+ couples obtained the crucial backing of the left-wing opposition on Thursday.
Stefanos Kasselakis, the openly gay ex-banker leading the radical left party Syriza, said that he would instruct his 38 lawmakers to vote for the proposal, even though he criticised the measure for not going far enough on parenthood rights.
Kasselakis, who married his husband in New York in October 2023, has expressed the desire to have children through a surrogate mother—a practice that has recently received condemnation by Pope Francis and which has been made illegal in Italy.
The new measure pushed forward by Mitsotakis doesn’t allow same-sex couples to acquire children through surrogate motherhood in the future. Full parental rights would be granted to same-sex couples that already have children.
The country currently only allows that procedure in the cases of women – single or married – who are unable to bear children on health grounds. As well as heterosexual couples, single men or women are allowed to adopt.
A previous draft of the law proposed earlier this week would have allowed the right to parenthood through surrogate mothers.
In an interview with private Star TV, the politician said that despite its “imperfections”, the proposal unveiled by the prime minister on Wednesday contains “some positive elements”.
Greece has already legalised same-sex partnerships in 2015.
The backing of the opposition would ensure that the law passes the 300-seat parliament despite a dozen lawmakers in Mitsotakis’s centre-right party, New Democracy, objecting to it. The party has a total of 158 lawmakers in parliament.
Kasselakis has criticised the prime minister for refusing to force all of his lawmakers to back a human rights issue, calling out his “political cowardice.” Mitsotakis was reelected for his second term in a landslide victory only six months ago.
But the most vocal criticism of the plan has come from the country’s Orthodox Church, which still wields a massive influence on Greece and has warned that the law could be the first step in the dismantling of Greek society. According to the church, allowing for same-sex marriage is the first step towards gay families assuming parental rights.
But Mitsotakis has fought back on the criticism, saying that they would listen to the views of the Church, but ultimately, “it is the state that legislates.”
“What we are going to legislate is marriage equality, which means the elimination of any discrimination based on sexual orientation,” he said in an interview with country broadcaster ERT. “It is not something radically different from what applies in other European countries.”
Right-wing parties in parliament also oppose the measure.
READ MORE: Newsbomb Poll: 89% of Greeks say “no” to same-sex marriages and adoptions.
