Athens - A Greek court on Tuesday annulled the first set of gay marriages which took place last summer on the tiny eastern Aegean island of Tilos.

The Court of First Instance on the island of Rhodes, under the judicial jurisdiction of which Tilos falls, decided to annul the civil weddings of two couples performed by Tilos Mayor Tassos Aliferis in June 2008 considering them "illegal."

Vassilis Hirdaris, a lawyer for the two couples told the German Press-Agency dpa, that they will take their case to the country's Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice.

"The civil marriage law does not specify gender - thus these marriages cannot be annulled and the courts ruling goes against the Constitution of Equality of Gender."

"There is a need to adapt the law to suit the modern state of society," he added.

The mayor had performed the civil ceremonies for the two couples, one gay and one lesbian, in defiance of the Minister of Justice, the Greek Orthodox Church and a prosecutors ban to stop them from taking place as well

Aliferis was later charged with breach of duty by a prosecutor. The charges, which carry a maximum five-year prison sentence, were later dropped.

The ceremonies were conducted after a lesbian organization in Greece said it had discovered a loophole in a 26-year-old civil marriage law that would allow gays to marry legally.

The group, OLKE, said a 1982 law legalizing weddings and civil ceremonies refers only to participating "persons," without specifying gender.

The Justice Ministry recently introduced civil partnership legislation granting legal rights to unmarried couples, but gays are not included in the law.

Gays are protected under Greek anti-discrimination laws, but gay groups complain they still face widespread discrimination, both in public and at work.

Greece's powerful Orthodox Church is staunchly opposed to granting gays legal rights and accepting common law marriages. (dpa)