Both male and female expressions of same-sex sexual activity were decriminalised in 1998, and civil unions which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage have been legal since December 2015.

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.

Aside from the unequal age of consent, the revised Criminal Code also made it a crime to "promote" homosexuality, which was used to restrict the LGBT rights movement.

[8] In Northern Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot deputies passed an amendment on 27 January 2014, repealing a colonial-era law that punished homosexual acts with up to five years' imprisonment.

[18] Despite the provisions, reports of incitement to hatred or violence against LGBT people occasionally result in no action by police forces nor any legal penalties, most notably when committed by clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church.

[21] In November 2017, President Nicos Anastasiades met advocacy group Accept-LGBT Cyprus to discuss issues concerning transgender rights.

A bill to allow transgender people to change their legal sex has been drafted, with the support of the President and the Justice Minister.

[22] On 10 June 2019, following months of stalling and delay, four parents of transgender children spoke in favor of the bill and urged for its "speedy adoption".

The legislation would allow transgender people over 18 to right to change their legal gender on the basis of self-determination, without a diagnosis, hormonal treatment or sex reassignment surgery.

In October 2011, the Communal Democracy Party (TDP) presented the same proposal to the Parliament with the demand of urgently decriminalising homosexuality in Northern Cyprus.

Since March 2012, Initiative Against Homophobia has continued its activities with the name Queer Cyprus Association (Turkish: Kuir Kıbrıs Derneği).

The march received extensive political support from almost all parties across the political spectrum, as well as support from former President George Vasiliou, the European Parliament's Office in Cyprus, the European Commission's Representation in Cyprus and 15 embassies who marched with the parade including ambassadors and embassy staff (Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States).

The 81-year-old Alexandros Modinos, who won a 1993 European Court of Human Rights case against Cyprus for its laws criminalising homosexuality, headed the procession.

Scuffles broke out between a group of Orthodox Christian protesters including clerics who denounced the event they called "shameful", demonstrating outside the Parliament.

It has also organised many activities to empower and mobilise members of LGBT community, by increasing awareness through sharing related information, providing informational, educational, psychological and legal services to the LGBTI community and organising and/or supporting LGBTI, gender equality and human rights thematic cultural events.

[32] This decision drew criticism from activists and on social media, who pointed out that a violent scene featuring one of the two men being half-naked, bloodied, and tortured by his boyfriend's father was left intact in the broadcast.

In 2000, a Major Holy Synod had to be convened to investigate rumours that Bishop Athansassios of Limassol had engaged in a homosexual relationship with a novice monk.

[36] However, the situation has seen a rapid turnaround in just a few years, with a 2014 survey finding that 53.3% of Cypriot citizens thought civil unions should be made legal.

[37] The 2023 Eurobarometer found that 50% of Cypriots thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe while 44% disagreed, and 46% agreed that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex".