I’m From Nicosia, Cyprus.

by Nancy Ponte

Google Earth Satellite Image of Cyprus
I’m From Nicosia, Cyprus.

I was only 16 when I realised that I was a lesbian, when a lot of the relationships that I had with guys failed, just because I felt that something was wrong with me.

My lesbian love story started when I was in high school. I met a strange girl in 2010 and we became friends. She also supported me through a difficult period of my life. A year after, we understood that we were in love with each other so we started dating. After a year of a beautiful relationship, one of my girlfriend’s relatives found out about our “wrong” relationship, went to my house and told all the information he knew about us to my parents, plus he added a lot of lies about me, saying that I’m a whore, that I lured my girlfriend to lesbianism and more. My parents were so upset with me because I did not tell them absolutely anything and they supported my girlfriend’s family.

As a result, it was forbidden for us to meet, or have any contact ever again, or her relatives would harm my family. That was their last threat. My girlfriend’s mother changed her school, phone number and house, just because she wanted to keep her daughter away from me. My parents did not accept me the way I was, as I never came out to them, so I lost their trust too. I was so upset that I cried almost every moment of the day. All of my friends had abandoned me as they didn’t want to be involved with me and my problems. The only person who stayed with me was our common best friend who was supporting both of us and I’m still so thankful for her!

After all this hell that we’ve passed through, I decided to start my life again without her. I started having love partners just to forget her. That was the most stupid thing that I’ve done in my life, as I started drinking and I regret about it nowadays. I did not understand that I would never forget her. My feelings for her were growing every day more and more and I could not live a minute without thinking about her.

A few months after our breakup, I went to find her when I got the chance to do so. She was shocked when she saw me and asked me the reason of my coming, as I replied to her, “I just wanted to see that you’re alright.” Then her eyes were filled with tears, but our conversation continued to be cold and strict. From that day, we started secretly talking again and I was over the moon!

Two months later, we connected our lives again and from that day we started dating again. We promised to each other to be careful not to be discovered until we finish high school and from that day we never cared about what people said about us. My parents have accepted me for who I am and realised that I am happy with this person. As for her mother, I don’t think that she’ll ever accept our relationship, which breaks my girlfriend’s heart but we have chosen this difficult path by ourselves, so we have to face the difficulties of the society we are living in. Plans for the future and the wish to move to a European country is the only hope that we can have for a better life.

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