A YOUNG Cypriot man is taking the Republic of Cyprus to the European Court of Human Rights for not giving him the right to enter into a same-sex marriage.
The 24-year-old from Paphos wrote a letter of complaint to the ECHR last December and now awaits their decision on whether they will look into his case. He is currently in a six-year relationship with another 24-year-old, also from Cyprus. The two have decided they want to get married.
“Cyprus doesn’t give me the right to have a same-sex, civil marriage. Four months ago, the Interior Ministry sent me a letter saying that if I get married abroad, they will not recognise my marriage in Cyprus. This too is a violation of my rights,” said the 24-year-old.
“We thought of going abroad but we want recognition at home. We have to try doing it here. If we do it abroad and come back, the Cyprus government will see us like we are too strange for them,” he added.
While the couple’s parents are aware and supportive of their relationship, they have not yet been told about their plans to marry or take the Republic to the European court.
“We will tell them at a later stage,” he said.
According to the young man, ILGA Europe, an NGO that works for human rights and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, has offered to provide legal support should the court agree to take on the case.
However, the Strasbourg-based court may refuse to do so since he has not exhausted local remedies first. If his application gets rejected, the 24-year-old told the Cyprus Mail he was willing to take the matter to the courts of the Republic.
In a letter sent to the gay rights campaigner, the Youth Board of Cyprus expressed its support for his position on same-sex marriage, based on “respect for the individual choices of youth regarding their personal and professional lives as stipulated in European conventions and declarations”.
Asked whether Cypriot society was ready for same-sex marriages, he replied: “The older generations are a little more conservative but young people in Cyprus know many things about homosexuality.”
Last week, the Sunday Mail reported that the government will soon examine the issue of making same-sex marriages legal in Cyprus. Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides said the intention was to hold a meeting this month involving the Attorney-general’s office, Law Commissioner Leda Koursoumba, Ombudswoman Eliana Nicolaou and senior representatives of the relevant government ministries.
The move was prompted by a letter sent by the 24-year-old to the Interior Ministry, asking for the law governing civil marriages to be amended to allow same-sex marriages.
Same-sex marriages was first made legal in the Netherlands in 2001, after which they have been legally recognised by Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2009), Sweden (2009) and Portugal (2010). In a number of other European countries – for example, the UK, Germany and Hungary – same-sex civil unions afford similar rights to marriage.
