LGBT rights in Cyprus not recognised or mentioned in the law. With independence from Britain in 1960, Cyprus retained British colonial law on the island almost in its entirety, with the relevant parts of the "Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885" becoming articles 171 to 174 of Chapter 154 of the Cypriot Criminal Code. The articles were first challenged in 1993, when Alexandros Modinos, a Cypriot architect and gay rights activist won a legal court case against the Government of Cyprus, known as "Modinos v. Cyprus", at the European Court of Human Rights. The Court ruled that Section 171 of the Criminal Code of Cyprus
SS Independence of its Fore River Shipyard in Quincy Massachusetts for the American Export Lines to operate on the US Mediterranean service. Launched on June 3, 1950 and completed January 1951, the new liner's first master was Captain Hugh Lee Switzer (1898–1991), former captain SS "La Guardia", who held that post from 1951 to 1964. Both the "Independence" and the "Constitution" sported black hulls and American export lines funnel colors. On February 10, 1951, "Independence" departed from North River Pier 84 at the foot of West 44th St in New York on a 53-day, 13,000 plus mile maiden voyage cruise to the