(Athens) About a hundred gays and lesbians demonstrated Monday in front of the Greek Parliament to denounce a court challenge by the government to the country’s first same-sex marriages.

The government has filed a court motion to have the marriages of a gay couple and a lesbian couple declared invalid.

In June, Mayor Tasos Aliferis performed the weddings on the island of Rhodes. Hundreds of friends of the couples turned out for the ceremonies, as did dozens of curious townsfolk and the media.

In addition to seeking to have the marriages invalidated, the government has charged Aliferis with breach of duty.

The LGBT rights group OLKE said earlier this year it had found a loophole in a 26-year-old update of the Greek civil marriage law that refers only to participating “persons,” without specifying gender.

OLKE said that by not naming gender, the law, albeit inadvertently, allows same-sex marriage and the group began the search for a mayor who would agree with them and perform the first ceremony.

The government disagrees with OKKE’s assessment of the law.  It maintains that the law limits marriage to opposite-sex couples.

The issue of whether the vagueness of the current law on marriage allows same-sex couples to marry has divided Greek legal experts, although most believe that without a specific definition of what constitutes a couple the court will likely deny the government application to annual the weddings.

The government recently introduced civil partnership legislation that would grant legal rights to unmarried couples, but the bill specifically excludes same-sex couples.

Gays and lesbians have some legal protections under Greek law - mainly in the areas of employment and housing.