An Athens misdemeanor court has sentenced a retired Greek football star to 10 months imprisonment and a 5,000 Euro fine for “transphobic” Facebook posts from 2017, in the first case of its kind in the country.
Vasilis Tsiartas, who formerly played for Greece’s national football team, became the target of legal action following a lawsuit filed by Marina Galanos, a prominent Greek trans activist.
Galanos had called into attention Facebook posts made by Tsiartas following the approval of a bill reforming Greece’s gender self-identification laws in 2017.
The bill, which ultimately passed, removed the medical requirement from the process of changing legal gender, and dropped the minimum age to 15. Prior to this, those who sought to change their gender on official documents had to undergo sex-change surgery and extensive testing.
In response to the contents of the bill, Tsiartas, who has conservative political views, had taken to Facebook to express his thoughts. According to You Weekly, Tsiartas wrote: “The first gender changes should be made by the children of those who voted for this disgrace. Let’s see what pride they have. PS: Legitimize pedophilia and complete the crimes.”
A few hours later, Tsiartas posted: “God created Adam and Eve.”
Tsiartas was not the only notable Greek national who vocally opposed the bill’s passing in 2017. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a politician and the leader of the center-right New Democracy Party, had similarly taken to social media to post on the issue.
On Facebook, Mitsotakis wrote: “It is inconceivable to bar 15-year-olds from consuming alcohol, yet we are enabling them to make such an important decision.”
Mitsotakis has since become the incumbent Prime Minister of Greece.
The Greek Orthodox Church also opposed the legislation and called for it to be withdrawn. Originally in Greek, the Church published a statement saying the bill “defies customs and common sense, and, above all, destroys people.”
Despite the bill’s widespread controversy, Tsiartas was targeted by activists for his comments, and subjected to a lawsuit filed by Marina Galanos, who was then the President of the Transgender and Intersex Support Association. Galanos passed away in 2021 while the proceedings were still in progress.
Tsiartas’ conviction for his statements is the first under Greek’s “anti-racist” law 927/1979 for “public incitement to violence or hatred due to gender identity.” The 927/1979 law, while named for racial discrimination, was amended in 2014 to cover a wide spectrum of protected characteristics including race, color, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.
Tsiartas was ultimately sentenced to 10 months imprisonment and a 5,000 Euro fine. The jail term is suspended, meaning Tsiartas will not spend any time behind bars unless he commits another violation within a certain conditional time frame.
Following Tsiartas’ conviction on Thursday, another man was sentenced for similar “transphobic” statements made on social media as a result of a lawsuit filed by Marina Galanos. The unnamed individual was handed a 7 month jail term, suspended.
Galanos’ lawyer, Vassals Sotiropoulos, boasted about the convictions in a thread posted to social media.
On Twitter, Tsiartas stated he was planning on appealing the conviction, and would be posting further details on his legal plan of action next week.
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