Prominent Court Cases regarding the lgbt Community in Greek Courts
09/07/2010
Submitted by
Themis Katsagiannis
For the term “Lesbian”
On June 10th 2008 the first instance court of Athens heard the case of a restraining order against the association Gay and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE) that had been brought forward by three residents of the island of Lesbos, in order for the association to cease using the term “lesbian”. The applicants of the restraining order were Dimitris Lambrou, Maria Rodou and Kokoni Kouvalaki. They asked that “the members (of OLKE) stop using the term lesbian, because, not having any relation to Lesbos, they deprive or demean the human right of 250 000 people of lesbian descent to have a geographic identity and so they severely offend their personality.”
Mr. Lambrou unaware that he became a laughingstock worldwide with his demand, his TV campaign and his interviews, he brought to the court a witness who among other things said that his children get confused when they hear someone refer with the term lesbians to homoerotic women. It is noteworthy that when he said these things his children were 30 years old.
The court rejected the application saying that the word “lesbian” is not a phrasal symbol through which each of the applicants is individualized to the outer world, it is not an unalienable element of their human character, nor is it part of the factors that determine the individuality of each applicant as mental and social beings, but it is a place’s name from where the applicants come from and for this reason it is attributed to all those who descent from the island of Lesbos, as well as lesbian associations in and outside Greece.
On same-sex marriage
On June 3rd 2008 Greece’s first same sex marriages took place on the island of Tilos. The state prosecutor on the island of Rhodes, George Oikonomou, filled a lawsuit against the marriages on June 24th 2008, so as to declare the marriages non existent and to convict the mayor of the island for breach of duty. The case was heard on December 4th 2008 and the decision was published on May 5th 2009.
The mayor was acquitted, but the decision declared the two same sex marriages non existent. The court denied to recognize the couples as families and to afford rights accordingly. The decision had many weak points, though, since it based its decision on the definition of family of Modestinus a roman legal scholar of the 3rd century AD. In spite of the rejection of same sex marriage the court commented in favor of registered partnership legislation. The decision is being challenged in the court of appeals, which will hear the case in February of 2011.
Costas Plevris and hate speech
Costas Plevris is a very well known Greek extreme right wing neo-nazi, who has spoken and written extensively against immigrants, the left wing, Jews, homosexuals and other groups that are often targets of the extreme right. After a call by the court of Appeals to appear as a defendant in an anti-Semitism case on October 1st 2008, mr. Plevris responded by saying that he did not want to be there in person, because among others one of the members of the prosecution was Andrea Gilbert who is “a Jewish American, bragging to represent homosexual women, so she is a psychologically disturbed, sexually perverse person, who does not respect the truth, since she does not respect her female nature”. For these remarks, a lawsuit was brought forth against him on January 13th 2009 and he was referred to the disciplinary committee of the Athens Bar Association. The lawsuit led to his criminal prosecution in November of 2009.
On March 11 2009, while he was being tried in the court of Appeals in a different case of anti-Semitism, because of statements in his book “Jews-the entire truth”, he once again referred in a derogative manner against lesbians and gays saying “whoever does not respect his nature, does not respect anything”. When the witness for the prosecution Panayote Dimitras (a representative of the Greek Helsinky Monitor) sayed “mrs. Gilbert…” mr. Plevris intervened exclaiming that she does not deserve to be called a madam. He explained that “Andrea Gilbert is a representative of lesbians and so she may not be called a madam, since she does not respect her female nature and consequently does not respect the truth”. After being called homophobic by mr. Dimitras, mr Stanelos, one of mr Plevris’s lawyers, said that he is not homophobic, but rather homodisgusted.
On March 21 2009, for the above statements a claim was filled to refer both mr. Plevris and mr. Stanelos for a second time to the disciplinary committee of the Athens Bar Association. The hearing took place in the context of a preliminary inquiry on November 19th 2009. Mr Plevris insisted in his initial position and he produced his book “Faggots” in support. He also mentioned that he will send a written memo by November 27th. This memo, dated November 30th was filled with insults and unscientific lies against lesbians and gays. For this memo he is to be brought to court.
On June 10th 2008 the first instance court of Athens heard the case of a restraining order against the association Gay and Lesbian Community of Greece (OLKE) that had been brought forward by three residents of the island of Lesbos, in order for the association to cease using the term “lesbian”. The applicants of the restraining order were Dimitris Lambrou, Maria Rodou and Kokoni Kouvalaki. They asked that “the members (of OLKE) stop using the term lesbian, because, not having any relation to Lesbos, they deprive or demean the human right of 250 000 people of lesbian descent to have a geographic identity and so they severely offend their personality.”
Mr. Lambrou unaware that he became a laughingstock worldwide with his demand, his TV campaign and his interviews, he brought to the court a witness who among other things said that his children get confused when they hear someone refer with the term lesbians to homoerotic women. It is noteworthy that when he said these things his children were 30 years old.
The court rejected the application saying that the word “lesbian” is not a phrasal symbol through which each of the applicants is individualized to the outer world, it is not an unalienable element of their human character, nor is it part of the factors that determine the individuality of each applicant as mental and social beings, but it is a place’s name from where the applicants come from and for this reason it is attributed to all those who descent from the island of Lesbos, as well as lesbian associations in and outside Greece.
On same-sex marriage
On June 3rd 2008 Greece’s first same sex marriages took place on the island of Tilos. The state prosecutor on the island of Rhodes, George Oikonomou, filled a lawsuit against the marriages on June 24th 2008, so as to declare the marriages non existent and to convict the mayor of the island for breach of duty. The case was heard on December 4th 2008 and the decision was published on May 5th 2009.
The mayor was acquitted, but the decision declared the two same sex marriages non existent. The court denied to recognize the couples as families and to afford rights accordingly. The decision had many weak points, though, since it based its decision on the definition of family of Modestinus a roman legal scholar of the 3rd century AD. In spite of the rejection of same sex marriage the court commented in favor of registered partnership legislation. The decision is being challenged in the court of appeals, which will hear the case in February of 2011.
Costas Plevris and hate speech
Costas Plevris is a very well known Greek extreme right wing neo-nazi, who has spoken and written extensively against immigrants, the left wing, Jews, homosexuals and other groups that are often targets of the extreme right. After a call by the court of Appeals to appear as a defendant in an anti-Semitism case on October 1st 2008, mr. Plevris responded by saying that he did not want to be there in person, because among others one of the members of the prosecution was Andrea Gilbert who is “a Jewish American, bragging to represent homosexual women, so she is a psychologically disturbed, sexually perverse person, who does not respect the truth, since she does not respect her female nature”. For these remarks, a lawsuit was brought forth against him on January 13th 2009 and he was referred to the disciplinary committee of the Athens Bar Association. The lawsuit led to his criminal prosecution in November of 2009.
On March 11 2009, while he was being tried in the court of Appeals in a different case of anti-Semitism, because of statements in his book “Jews-the entire truth”, he once again referred in a derogative manner against lesbians and gays saying “whoever does not respect his nature, does not respect anything”. When the witness for the prosecution Panayote Dimitras (a representative of the Greek Helsinky Monitor) sayed “mrs. Gilbert…” mr. Plevris intervened exclaiming that she does not deserve to be called a madam. He explained that “Andrea Gilbert is a representative of lesbians and so she may not be called a madam, since she does not respect her female nature and consequently does not respect the truth”. After being called homophobic by mr. Dimitras, mr Stanelos, one of mr Plevris’s lawyers, said that he is not homophobic, but rather homodisgusted.
On March 21 2009, for the above statements a claim was filled to refer both mr. Plevris and mr. Stanelos for a second time to the disciplinary committee of the Athens Bar Association. The hearing took place in the context of a preliminary inquiry on November 19th 2009. Mr Plevris insisted in his initial position and he produced his book “Faggots” in support. He also mentioned that he will send a written memo by November 27th. This memo, dated November 30th was filled with insults and unscientific lies against lesbians and gays. For this memo he is to be brought to court.
