As Queer Cyprus Association, we are here for you.

Once upon a time, our very existence was written into the law as a crime.

Article 171 of Chapter 154 defined our lives as illegal.

LGBTI+ bodies and desires were singled out, separated, condemned.

But what happened on January 27?

January 27, 2014.

Today marks the 12th anniversary of the removal of that article from the Penal Code.

It is the anniversary of abolishing Article 171, which criminalized relationships labeled as

“Crimes Against the Order of Nature.”

Yet we know this: even when laws change, not everything is fixed overnight.

The struggle doesn’t end, it only changes its form.

We are still at the beginning of the road.

Sometimes life feels heavy.

Sometimes everything piles up at once, fears grow, hope grows tired.

At times we become invisible; at times our voices are deliberately silenced.

But we are here.

We continue to live, to love, to resist.

And we want you to know this:

You are not alone.

You do not have to carry this struggle by yourself.

I am here for you.

To stand side by side, to grow stronger, and to walk together.