Civil partnership is a prison first says governor

The first civil partnership agreement took place on Friday between two inmates in Nicosia central prison, governor Anna Aristotelous told the Cyprus Mail.

Cypriot Kevork and Enzo from Brazil, both in their 30s, were married on Friday by the acting district officer of Nicosia, just under a year before they are both due to be released.

Clearly a long-lasting relationship, the couple applied around two years ago for a civil partnership agreement.

According to Politis, Enzo has said he wants to change sex from a man to a woman but Aristotelous said no official request has been submitted.

If he were to request a sex change operation or a hormonal therapy in prison, it would be the first such case in the Cyprus prison.

“Our philosophy is anthropocentric,” Aristotelous told Cyprus Mail “our aim is to show the same respect to everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation. We wish to give them the chance to come out in society better people.”

The prison governor said she is satisfied even if a small percentage of inmates manage to gain a positive outcome from the correctional system.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.