Northern Cyprus has passed a law legalizing gay sex between consenting adults, the last European nation to do so, the Guardian reports.
If Northern Cyprus’s president signs the law, as expected, Europe will become the third continent — after Australia and North America — to decriminalize homosexuality.
Northern Cyprus is a Turkish breakaway state from the Republic of Cyprus and is mostly dependent on Turkish military and economic support. It is recognized as an independent state only by Turkey. The government has been under pressure from the European Union, and from Turkey, to drop its colonial-era laws on homosexuality.
The Republic of Cyprus, the southern half of the island, decriminalized homosexuality in 1993.
Advertisement
Why you can trust Xtra
