Greece's parliament approved a bill allowing same-sex civil marriage on Thursday, a landmark victory for supporters of LGBTQ rights that was greeted with cheers by onlookers in parliament and dozens gathered on the streets of Athens.

The law gives same-sex couples the right to wed and adopt children, and comes after decades of campaigning by the LGBTQ community for marriage equality in the socially conservative country.

Greece is one of the first Orthodox Christian countries to allow such unions.