A rally for relationship equality in Cyprus The parliament of Mediterranean island state Cyprus has voted by a comfortable majority for a Civil Pertnership bill allowing same-sex couples in the country to be legally recognised for the first time. The legislation will offer couples the same rights as civil marriage. However, joint adoption rights are not included as part of the civil union law. Cyprus has a highly religious population, a mix of Greek Orthodox and Sunni Islam. The vote marks the end of a long period of public discussion in Cyprus where civil partnership recognition was first promised in 2013 with the current bill approved by the government in May 2015. This was closely followed by a European Court of Human Rights’ judgment that Italy’s failure to provide any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples violated Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. 39 members of parliament voted in favour of the bill, 12 against and three members abstained.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 27th November 2015 - 5:54pm