Kostas Gavrielidis has died after a public career devoted to advancing equality, human rights and respect for diversity in Cyprus.
He worked as policy and public diplomacy officer at a foreign diplomatic mission in Cyprus, where he played an active role in political analysis, public diplomacy and strategic communication. Alongside this work, he served as a consultant and senior adviser on diversity, equality and inclusion, drawing on many years of experience in shaping policies that promote social justice and human rights.
From 2018 to 2023, he served as adviser to the president of the Republic of Cyprus on the promotion of multiculturalism, acceptance and respect for diversity. In this role, he put forward proposals to strengthen equality and social cohesion policies and supported initiatives aimed at different communities and minorities.
At international level, he represented Cyprus on the Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI) of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. From 2019 to 2023, he acted as co-chair of the European LGBTIQ+ Governmental Focal Points Network (EFPN), and in 2022 he chaired the pan-European IDAHOT+ Forum, which took place in Limassol.
He also served as coordinator of Cyprus’s interministerial committee for the signing and implementation of the memorandum of understanding on LGBTI+ issues with the United Kingdom, coordinating government action on rights and equality within European and international cooperation frameworks.
At national level, he played an active role in bicommunal cooperation as a member of the Technical Committee on Humanitarian Issues, which works to address humanitarian concerns and promote cooperation between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.
Gavrielidis co-founded Accept–LGBTI Cyprus and served as its first elected president from 2012 to 2017. He led the organisation’s efforts to stage Cyprus’s first Pride Festival in 2014, an event that marked a new phase in social advocacy. He also served on the executive board of ILGA-Europe in Brussels from 2014 to 2018, contributing to the development of European equality policies.
He went on to act as coordinator of the policy working group on LGBTI+ rights and as a member of the political bureau of the Democratic Rally party, supporting policy development and strategic planning on social equality issues.
Gavrielidis graduated from the English School of Nicosia and held a bachelor’s degree in business administration and information systems, as well as a master’s degree in e-commerce with merit from the University of Westminster in London. He published studies on human rights for the Council of Europe and international institutes, lived and worked in London for 10 years, and spoke Greek, English, German, Russian and French.