Athens, February 16, 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

Subject: «The GTSA welcomes the passing of the marriage equality law and continues the fight for its improvement»

The Greek Transgender Support Association (GTSA), is a voluntary non-governmental organization that promotes the rights and freedoms of trans, gender-diverse, and LGBTQI persons in general, with this press release, welcomes the passing of the law on the legal recognition of marriage equality as a positive step in the direction of the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms, and continues the fight with more strength and perseverance for its further improvement.

Voting for marriage equality is one of the leading claims of our community which for many years, decades has suffered from stereotypes, intolerance, discrimination, exclusion and limited access to a number of areas of private and public life.

However, this moment is mitigated, due to the many shortcomings, discriminations and exclusions set by this legislation, as it does not include the proof of parenthood. Also, although this law amended Law 4443/2016 on equal treatment, so as to include LGBTQI+ persons in all sectors, including health, the law itself increases discrimination in terms of equal access to health, prohibiting LGBTQI+ individuals and couples from accessing medically assisted reproduction, including surrogacy. Finally, a very dark point is the non-recognition of trans parenthood and the recognition of the existing children of trans parents. Although we heard the Prime Minister mention that this draft law comes to give rights to “invisible” children, it only recognizes the children of cis gay men and cis lesbian women, but not the children whose parent is a trans person, either with heterosexual or homosexual sexual orientation. Although all LGBTQI+ organizations, Independent Bodies such as the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR), International Organizations such as Amnesty International etc., as well as all the opposition democratic parties (SYRIZA P.A., PASOK-KINAL, Course of Freedom and New Left), sided with the proposal of the Greek Transgender Support Association and amendments were submitted, so that it is amended paragraph 5.2 of Law 4491/2017 on the legal recognition of gender identity which, although it stipulates that when families with trans parents have children, parental relationships are not disrupted when legal recognition of the gender identity of a parent occurs, however, the registry acts of the children are not changed so that to match the gender of their parents, the Minister did not make any changes at all, leaving (once again) both trans parents and their children without any legal recognition.

For all these shortcomings that we pointed out from the first moment it was put to the consultation, , the Greek Transgender Support Association will fight in every possible field, both in the political and in the field of Justice as well as informing society, so that the trans and more generally all our LGBTQI+ fellow human beings, to enjoy equal rights and freedoms with all our fellow citizens, but also because the enjoyment of rights and freedoms does not only concern our community, but also every democratic citizen who desires an open society for all persons.

In addition, the extreme racist, homo-transphobic speech that is developed even by members of parliament inside the temple of our democracy, the Greek Parliament, by institutionalizing racist attitudes, makes the vigilance of all democratic citizens to defend the rights of all fellow human beings even more imperative, while it is more than necessary to immediately amend and extend N.4285/2014 (anti-racism law), so that not only public incitement to violence or hatred is criminalized, but in general any form of hate speech, and additional measures are taken when it originates from public figures, and that there be additional arrangements to deal with the public dissemination, public distribution or production or storage of racist material, as well as that there be measures to protect human rights defenders.

Nothing stops here. Nothing will be given to us without fight.

Now is the time when we must put all our strength into making up for lost time, so that we can obtain true equality as quickly as possible.

THE BOARD OF MEMBERS

GREEK TRANSGENDER SUPPORT ASSOCIATION

Trans Day Reception & Empowerment Center: Evangelistrias 6, Kallithea Athens, 17671
Tel. 210.9210 697 & 698 753 9741
Office hours for the public: Tuesday & Thursday – 12.00-20.00

http://tgender.gr – http://www.transgender-association.gr/

syd.secretary@gmail.com – transgender.support.association@gmail.com