logo
livingroom

decorative bar

biographies


corner Last update of this page: December 11th 2017 corner
Alecos Modinos
(1932 - living) Cyprus

Alecos Modinos

Architect, activist

separator

Alexandros (Alecos) F. Modinos was honoured at a special ceremony in Nicosia for his pioneering work in safeguarding the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people.

Alexandros Modinos, an architect, founded Apeleftherotiko Kinima Omofilofilon Kiprou (AKOK), or "Cypriot Gay Liberation Movement", in 1987. At the time, Modinos was involved in a sexual relationship with another male adult, and claimed to suffer great strain, apprehension, and fear of prosecution by reason of Section 171 of the Criminal Code of Cyprus, which criminalized certain homosexual acts.

Almost single-handedly he forced the state to decriminalise homosexuality nearly two decades later. He campaigned hard in the late 1980s when world opinion linked homosexuality to the rise of AIDS and did a lot of work to raise awareness among Cypriot families, particularly those who had gay members.

In 1993, Modinos challenged Cyprus's law prohibiting same-sex relations between consenting adult males in the European Court of Human Rights. The Council of Europe in the wake of the successful case to the European Court of Human Rights, issued several ultimatums and finally the law which outlawed homosexuality between consenting male adults, was amended.

When the law decriminalising homosexuality between consenting adults was passed in May 1998, after a five-year battle, deputies left in a reference to "unnatural licentiousness", which the gay community objected to. It has taken the House another two years to amend the offending term, which they replaced with the phrase "intercourse between men" in a June 2000's plenum.

Many deputies left the floor during the vote, because of the controversial nature of the homosexual issue. Archbishop Chrysostomos said he had not been aware of the change, but said he regretted the House had taken this turn.

In 2002, parliament removed a further bone of contention, equalising the age of consent for heterosexuals and homosexuals to 17. Before that, heterosexual couples aged 16 and up were considered consenting adults while homosexuals had to wait until they were 18 to remain within the law.

Same-sex partners still have no legal rights in Cyprus while the debate on gay marriages has only just started to come out of the woodwork.

separator

Source: http://cyprus-mail.com/ - et alii

Click on the letter M to go back to the list of names

corner © Matt & Andrej Koymasky, 1997 - 2017 corner