(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is moving forward with plans to ban so-called gender normalizing surgeries on children as part of an effort to fight discrimination and boost LGBTQ rights in Greece, a largely socially conservative country.

The potentially harmful practices are performed on babies and toddlers whose bodies do not fit traditional definitions of male or female, often without them ever knowing. The surgeries tend to be medically unnecessary, and are condemned by the United Nations, the World Health Organization and Human Rights Watch.

Lawmakers will vote later this month on the proposal, but it is expected to pass as the government holds a majority of seats in the parliament. Greece would join Malta and only a handful of other countries in prohibiting the procedures by law.

The premier last year appointed a committee to draft a national strategy for improving LGBTQ rights, and has introduced a number of reforms since then, such as lifting a ban on homosexual men making blood donations. Few had expected the center-right politician become such a powerful force for change.

“The injustices and hatred that, unfortunately even today, exist for fellow citizens must finally be eliminated,” Mitsotakis said in May. “I pledge that I will not leave anyone alone in this struggle for freedom and equality.” 

Greece is among European countries that has seen the biggest jump in LQBTQ rights, according to one recent ranking. But many in the community are concerned that legal changes won’t be implemented, meaning attitudes won’t shift either.

“The strategy as a first step is very positive,” said Giannis Papagiannopoulos, a rights activist and publisher of Antivirus Magazine, Greece’s only LGBTQ publication. “We’re waiting to see as a community that what has been proposed will become reality.” 

Same-sex civil partnerships were legally recognized in Greece in 2015 and gender identity in 2017, but progress had been piecemeal until Mitsotakis came to power. 

Other measures he’s already introduced include moving trans women inmates to women’s prisons from men’s and embracing transgender citizens in targeted programs that subsidize labor costs for businesses. He has also fully banned so-called conversion therapy.

Among planned initiatives is the creation of a government body to handle LGBTQ issues, along with a helpline, a center for psychological counseling and facilities for young homeless people from the community. Some 800,000 civil servants will be trained on how to deal with related issues in their places of work.

Mitsotakis is expected to address marriage equality following elections set for next spring in a bid to resolve other matters associated with family law, such as adoption.

“It is important for Greece to both increase LGBTQI+ visibility and change things legally, as part of a broader effort of ensuring equal opportunities for all and creating an inclusive society and economy,” said Alex Patelis, Chief Economic Adviser to the prime minister. 

“One important legacy of the strategy is that LGBTQI+ issues in Greece have now permanently entered mainstream policy making and are considered commonplace in political discourse.”

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