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		</div><p>A Greek novelist and his partner became the first same-sex couple to be married in Athens’ city hall, three weeks after the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Orthodox Christian Greece.</p>
<p>The Greek capital’s mayor officiated at the civil wedding of Petros Hadjopoulos, who writes under the pen name Auguste Corteau, and lawyer Anastasios Samouilidis.</p>
<p>Mr Hadjopoulos said the event was “a dream that we didn’t dare entertain when we were in our teens”. </p>
<p>“There is a symbolism to this,” he told The Associated Press.</p>
<p>“I understand that (marriage) doesn’t work for everyone, but for people who grew up in Greece in the 1980s and 90s, when guys like us lived a very lonely existence, even symbols have a great value.”</p>
<p>The couple arrived with their dog, to the applause of more than two dozen guests.</p>
<p>A cross-party majority of Greek lawmakers approved same-sex marriage in a vote on February 15, despite strong opposition from the socially conservative Orthodox Church.</p>
<p>While polls show that a slender majority of Greek public opinion backs same-sex marriage, the Church has been fuming at its legalisation.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Church officials on the island of Corfu imposed a religious ban on two local lawmakers who voted for the reform.</p>
<p>The law also confers full parental rights on married same-sex partners with children. But it precludes gay couples from parenthood through surrogate mothers in Greece — an option currently available to women who cannot have children for health reasons.</p>
<p>Athens Mayor Haris Doukas described Thursday’s ceremony as a “historic moment”, and encouraged other same-sex couples to follow suit.</p>
<p>“Every citizen of Athens … should be able to live and love in the way they choose,” he told the AP.</p>
<p>The first same-sex wedding under the new law was held over the weekend in the southern Athens municipality of Nea Smyrni.</p>
<p>Greece is the first majority Orthodox Christian country to allow same-sex marriage. It legalised same-sex civil unions nearly a decade ago.</p>
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