A Greek novelist and a lawyer are the first same-sex couple to wed at Athens city hall

By THEODORA TONGAS and MICHAEL VARAKLAS
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek novelist and his partner are the first same-sex couple to be married in Athens’ city hall following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Orthodox Christian Greece. The mayor of the Greek capital officiated at the wedding on Thursday of Petros Hadjopoulos, who uses the pen name Auguste Corteau, and lawyer Anastasios Samouilidis. Hadjopoulos, who is 45, said the event was “a dream that we didn’t dare entertain when we were in our teens.” While polls show that a slender majority of Greek public opinion backs same-sex marriage, it is fiercely opposed by the socially conservative Orthodox Church.