The Green party have tabled a bill in parliament which would allow same-sex couples to adopt children.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, party leader Charalambos Theopemptou explained that the bill tabled does not specifically apply to same-sex couples, but would include them.
“The bill we tabled is to change the current law regarding civil partnerships. Currently the law states that if you are in a civil partnership, whether it be between two people of the same sex or two people of the opposite sex, you are not allowed to adopt children,” he said.
The bill tabled would remove that clause from the current law, thus allowing anyone in a civil partnership to adopt children. Currently, only married couples have that right, with the right to marriage currently restricted to opposite-sex couples.
“I hope the majority see this as a good thing. 16 countries in the European Union allow it already and the results are positive,” he said.
He added, “currently, children are going from foster home to foster home, when a same-sex couple could offer the love and the stability that they need, and they are currently withheld from doing so.”