African asylum seeker marries gay partner in south Cyprus

A young homosexual man who fled Guinea has found refuge in Cyprus as he signed a civil union partnership agreement with his Cypriot boyfriend on Wednesday last week.

After his asylum application was rejected last year, Moussa was terrified he would be deported to his homeland, where same-sex sexual activity is punishable with up to ten years in jail and hefty fines.

But soon, his Cypriot partner, whom he met during his first days in Cyprus in 2020, proposed to him.

On Wednesday, Accept LGBTI Cyprus posted a photo of the man signing a civil partnership agreement with his boyfriend at a local town hall.

Congratulating the couple, the NGO said “Moussa’s ordeal is finished and he is no longer threaten with returning to his homeland, where the government and society are waiting to prosecute him just because he is gay.”

The organisation also thanked MP Alexandra Attalides, Cyprus Refugee Council and City Free Press for all the efforts to help Moussa’s case.

Moussa fled his town in Guinea when his cousin outed him to his family. He had told City Free Press that his family kicked him out of the house and he was banned from his local church while his neighbours kept threatened him and his family.

He arrived in Cyprus in February 2020, where he said, he also experienced sexual bias.

Cyprus Mail