Both male and female expressions of same-sex sexual activity were decriminalised in , and civil unions which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage have been legal since December Conversion therapy was banned in Cyprus in May Traditionally, the socially conservative Greek Orthodox Church has had significant influence over public opinion and politics regarding LGBT rights.
However, ever since Cyprus sought membership in the European Union , it had to change its human rights legislation, including its laws regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. Attitudes towards members of the LGBT community are evolving and becoming increasingly more accepting and tolerant, with a recent opinion poll showing that a majority of Cypriots now support same-sex marriage. Cyprus fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire in Although administered by the British Empire from , Cyprus remained officially part of the Ottoman Empire until , when it was annexed by the British Empire following the decision of the Ottoman Turks to side with Germany in the First World War.
Even then, Cyprus was not officially claimed by the British Empire until , following recognition of British ownership of the island by the newly created Republic of Turkey through the Treaty of Lausanne , signed by Britain and Turkey in Although Britain assumed full legal ownership of Cyprus in , Ottoman law was not formally replaced on the island until , when Ottoman legal tolerance of homosexuality was finally ended, with the incorporation of the British Criminal Law Amendment Act into Cyprus law.
For the first time since , this made male homosexuality a criminal act in Cyprus. Female homosexuality was not recognised or mentioned in the law.
With independence from Britain in , Cyprus retained British colonial law on the island almost in its entirety, with the relevant parts of the Criminal Law Amendment Act becoming articles to of Chapter of the Cypriot Criminal Code. Cyprus , at the European Court of Human Rights. The Court ruled that section of the Criminal Code of Cyprus violated Modinos's right to a private life, protected under the European Convention on Human Rights , an international agreement ratified by Cyprus in Despite the legal ruling, Cyprus did not formally revise its Criminal Code to comply with the ruling until Even then, the age of consent for homosexual conduct was set at eighteen, while that for heterosexual conduct was at sixteen.
