Let's talk, for the first time, about the "legal" Cavafy. One of the most impressive features of his writing is that it moves ahead of the language of human rights, but not outside their realm.

The poet speaks from the early 20th century about demedicalization and decriminalization of homosexuality. He foresaw, from then on, the need for visibility and free action in a "more perfect society." He predicts an emerging type of human, "like me," as well as the formation of a future community. Cavafy is the prophet of LGBTQ+ rights.

In the 21st century, the cases of equal treatment that concern the European Court of Human Rights and the supreme courts of many countries are just modern expressions of the same Cavafian perspective: that a society that does not respect diversity continually produces exclusions; and that equality is the call to protect people who, otherwise, would remain exposed to injustice.

Just as in the poem desire seeks its space, so too in the law the principle of equal treatment demands to be applied, not "generally and vaguely," but to the real individuals who experience discrimination: LGBTQ+ employees, public servants called to serve without prejudice, couples seeking equal social rights.

Let us therefore see Cavafy’s poems as a dialogue with LGBTQ+ rights.