Cyprus Moves to Strip Law of Anti-Gay Reference
Data
Lounge, June 20, 2000
CYPRUS The Cyprus National Assembly last week stripped anti-gay
language from its two-year-old law legalizing gay sexual relations, an action that civil
rights advocates in the country said was long past due.
A suit brought before the European Court of Human Rights in 1993 by Alecos Modinos, the
countrys leading advocate for gay rights, resulted in a ruling against Cyprus and an
order that the countrys legislature repeal its prohibitions against sex between
consenting adult partners.
With the aid of local representatives of the Greek Orthodox church who threatened to
actively campaign against any legislator who voted for repeal, the national government
managed to stall implementation of the order for five years.
With the European Union threatening to expel Cyprus from the 41 member body, Cypriot
lawmakers finally consented in 1998 to repeal the countrys sodomy laws. But in a
stab of defiance, deputies inserted the term "unnatural licentiousness" to
characterize sexual relations between men.
The small but vocal gay rights community in Cyprus strongly objected, saying it ran
counter to the spirit of the EU court ruling. It has taken the House another two years to
omit the offending term and replace it with the phrase "intercourse between
men."
Modino said that what counted was that the EU would not accept the law because it was
full of discriminatory terminology. "I hope that with this amendment gay people will
be dealt with as equals and as first class citizens like the rest of the population, and
that only the criminals will be punished, whether they are homosexuals or
heterosexuals," Modinos said.
"I think its a shame for Cyprus to be tarnished because a team of deputies
did not sit for five years from 1993 to 1998 to study and understand what its all
about and still talk today about unnatural licentiousness," Modino said.
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