Matsakis ruffled feathers in Strasbourg last week when he asked not to be sent any more invitations to the exhibition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in the European Parliament, titled “Different families, same love”.

The Cypriot MEP said he found the photographs offensive and asked not to be sent any more.

The emails had a poster attached depicting a mixed race male couple sitting on the grass, one with his arm over the shoulder of another, and a lesbian couple sitting with their two children.

“The photos are not at all offensive,” said Cypriot gay rights activist Alecos Modinos, whose case to Europe in the 1990s brought an end to the criminalisation of homosexuality in Cyprus.

“I am not myself extremely broad-minded but these are lovely pictures. What offended him was two women with their two children?” Modinos told the Sunday Mail yesterday.

“There was no embracing or kissing involved.”

Modinos made the point that Matsakis himself does not have a ‘regular’ family.

“Sooner or later, Cyprus will have to deal with same-sex relationships. We are no longer ‘criminals’, but what’s the use if people are still suffering due to the ignorance of others,” Modinos said.

He said research had shown that Cypriots were homophobic so it was important, he said, that ordinary people be enlightened about this issue.

Modinos said the exhibition that offended Matsakis would be shown in all 27 EU member states over the next 12 months, and he would be looking for a place to hold the event

Marion Oprel, one of the two women in the poster who posed with the couple’s two children aged nine, said she was surprised at Matsakis but that the controversy was a good opportunity to open discussion on same-sex couples in Cyprus.

Oprel has a second home on the island and visits often.

“I do understand that a picture of two women and two children is a strange sight for some people, but they need to get used to it,” she said.

“The main thing for me is that a discussion is starting. It’s a good thing for Cyprus, or any other country to see things from a new angle. A picture says more than a thousand words.”

Oprel questioned how anyone could be offended by a photo of a happy family.

Of Matsakis, she said her children had expressed sympathy for his attitude, saying he had no idea how great it was to be raised by two women, and if someone was not “comfortable with love” perhaps they needed therapy.

Modinos said several MEPs had also written to Matsakis.

One email from MEP Britta Thomsen said: “Mr Matsakis I think it is a problem that you as an MEP are working against the fundamental human rights in the European Union… by expressing discriminatory views like this. I think people who wish to carry Europe back to the time before the age of enlightenment should express their views in mediaeval clubs and not bother me with that kind of ignorance.”

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Association (ILGA) Europe said it regretted that Matsakis, and another MEP from Lithuania who had made disparaging comments, “Could not see the love and humanity shared by the families displayed in the exhibition and the message contained that human rights are for all.

“We hope that these events will give another opportunity to reflect on the indivisibility of human rights,” it said.

Matsakis has said he suspects there is a campaign against him as a result of his “emotional speech given four-five years ago in favour of the rights of children”.

He said his party, the Liberals, played a determining factor in the vote against giving adoption rights to homosexuals.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

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I strongly suspect that the homophobic lobby is planning to re-initiate a campaign to ban homosexual people from starting their own families.

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Time to grow up, Marios!!

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"Take Greece, Italy, and Cyprus out of the European context, let them fester in their own hate and bile." – is that truly the answer? I'm saddened to think that this would even be suggested by anyone who has a collected understanding of discrimination in any form. Let the person be accountable, and not make sweeping statements about the countries.

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And surely the man has a point: he is indeed entitled to his opinion, however backward it might be.

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Take Greece, Italy, and Cyprus out of the European context, let them fester in their own hate and bile.

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