The weeklong activities of the 5th Cyprus Pride Festival peaked on Sunday with a Pride Parade in Nicosia, where Eurovision singer Eleni Foureira also showed up and gave a pep talk to cheering fans.
Supporters and allies, people from all walks of life were in attendance at the pride festival, including political figures and members of parliament. Speeches and presentations were later followed by a party at the Nicosia municipal garden.
Foureira, the Greek-Albanian singer who represented Cyprus in the Eurovision contest last month, grabbed the microphone for a few minutes.
“Be proud of who you are, you have nothing to fear, nothing and nobody can tell you what you need to do in your life, this is your decision,” Foureira said.
She also touched on the gender identity issue, which is a topic of social debate, saying people should be allowed to decide for themselves how they should be addressed on their identity documents.
Transport Minister Vassiliki Anastasiadou also addressed the crowd on behalf of President Nicos Anastasiades.
The minister spoke of government efforts to cultivate respect for human rights and diversity, praising legislation on domestic partnerships, which passed into law last year.
Anastasiadou also made references to the criminalisation of hate speech especially against sexual orientation and gender identity. Read more via Knews
FOR the first time events will be held in Paphos to mark Cyprus’ fifth Pride Festival, currently underway.
Accept LGBT Cyprus’ representative in Paphos, South African Cypriot Zac Theophanous, is organising the events which will see the rainbow flag hoisted above the municipalities of both Paphos and Geroskipou on May 25.
“This is the first time we are doing this in Geroskipou and the mayor and municipality have been very supportive,” he told the Cyprus Mail. Last June, Theophanous raised the rainbow flag for the first time at Paphos town hall, ahead of the Cyprus Pride Parade which is held each year in Nicosia. The Pride Festival 2018 is under the auspices of President Nicos Anastasiades and the municipality of Nicosia.
Cyprus Pride events with the 2018 hashtag ‘#makethechange’, started on May 12 and will run until June 3, culminating in the parade in Nicosia which saw around 5,000 participants last year, according to president of Accept LGBT Cyprus, Nicholas Trifon.
On Sunday May 20, at the Iris counselling centre in Geroskipou there will be two lectures on homosexuality and the LGBT community in general. They are open to the public. There will also be a ‘human library’ where participating volunteers will tell their stores. One is an HIV positive man who will openly talk about his HIV status. “This is important, in this way we can educate people to dispel the myths and understand the realities and educate about HIV and how not to get it.” Read more via Cyprus Mail