Greek gay activists to hold kiss-in protest

Gay rights activists in Greece are calling for gay men and lesbians to gather in Athens and kiss in public on Friday to protest a $117,000 fine imposed on a local television station for showing a male couple kissing, Agence France-Presse reports. "We hope there will be as many of us as possible," Grigoris Valianatos, an activist organizing the event, told AFP Thursday. "After all, our kisses are officially worth 100,000 euros now." The protest is scheduled for late Friday on the doorsteps of the National Audiovisual Council, Greece's media watchdog. On Wednesday the council leveled a $117,000 fine on private television station Mega, Greece's second-biggest channel, for showing two young men kissing in the popular late-night series Close Your Eyes. According to media observers, it was the first time that men were broadcast kissing on a popular Greek show. The broadcast also contained "obscene atmosphere" and "unacceptable dialogue," council president Ioannis Laskaridis was quoted as saying. "[Kissing men] is not a usual phenomenon. It is a particularity outside life's reproductive process," Laskaridis reportedly said.