Cyprus is set to hold its first ever pride event on Saturday 31 May, sixteen years after a law banning homosexuality was repealed. Authorities in the island’s Turkish Cypriot north, a self-declared state recognised only by Ankara, repealed a similar law in February.

Same-sex couples in Cyprus do not receive the same rights as heterosexual couples when it comes to social housing and other benefits. The International Gay and Lesbian Association (ILGA) ranks Cyprus among the lowest of all European countries for LGBT rights.

Costa Gavrielides, from Accept – LGBT Cyprus, said: “Nothing has happened to improve the legal rights of LGBT [citizens] since 1998. “We are strongly pushing for this to materialise… We believe that society has moved on much more than politicians.” He added that social attitudes are changing and that the Pride march would push LGBT rights forward and put the island’s LGBT community “into the limlight.”

Read more on pinknews.co.uk.