In rights landmark, Greek novelist and lawyer are the first same-sex couple wed at Athens city hall

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek novelist and his partner have become the first same-sex couple to be married in Athens’ city hall following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Orthodox Christian Greece. The Greek capital’s mayor officiated at the wedding 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.