Trans in Cyprus?

[D. Glenn Arthur Jr.]

[Also posted (not crossposted) to alt.culture.cyprus.]

My mother wants to go back to Cyprus for a month this spring and take
me with her. I've wanted to go for a long time -- to see kin when
they're not in tourist-mode (though I will be), to experience walking
the land of half my ancestors, to take gorgeous photographs -- but
I'm a little nervous.

I'm transgender, and conspicuously so. (My normal appearance could
be classified 'genderqueer', but even if I dress male the whole month
to make Mom happy, I'm not going to pass for a cisgender man she wants
to pretend I am, especially if I'm dressed for warmer weather, now
that I'm on hormones.)

I'm looking for a sense of what sort of reception to expect in Cyprus,
how Greek Cypriot culture reacts to people like me, what words and
phrases it'll be important for me to know that won't be in a normal
phrasebook, whether carrying my guitar with me will make a big a
difference in how people react there as it does when I visit unfamiliar
US and Canadian cities, etc..

Are there any LGBTQ Cypriots here who can give this middle-aged
barbarian[*] some useful clues?



[*] I know a few words of Greek, and grew up knowing the alphabet
(so I can read aloud text I can't usually translate), but I'm going
to be relying heavily on a tourist phrasebook, other folks knowing
English, and my relatives translating for me.
--
D. Glenn Arthur Jr./The Human Vibrator, dgl...@panix.com
Due to hand/wrist problems my newsreading time varies so I may miss followups.
"Being a _man_ means knowing that one has a choice not to act like a 'man'."
http://www.dglenn.org/ http://dglenn.dreamwidth.org