Switzerland Overwhelmingly Legalizes Gay Marriage: ‘A Historic Day’

Voters in Switzerland have overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to legalize gay marriage in the country, paving the way for same-sex Swiss couples to also adopt children together and apply for naturalization.

The Associated Press reports that the measure on Sunday won a majority in all of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, with nearly two-thirds of voters in the country supporting it. Sixty-four percent of voters backed it, according to The New York Times.

Same-sex couples in Switzerland had been able to enter registered partnerships (the country as permitted same-sex civil partnerships since 2007), but they weren’t afforded the same legal rights as married couples, such as adoption or simplified naturalization.

The new law will also allow lesbian couples to access regulated sperm donation.

Agence France-Presse reports that Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said same-sex marriages will likely be able to take place beginning July 1, 2022.

“Whoever loves each other and wants to get married will be able to do so, regardless of whether it is two men, two women, or a man and a woman,” Keller-Sutter said when the news of the referendum’s passage was announced. “The state does not have to tell citizens how they should lead their lives.”

The passage of the referendum is historic in Switzerland, which has been traditionally conservative and was one of the last countries in Europe to extend the right to vote to women. (While most women in Switzerland gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1971, one Swiss canton didn’t grant suffrage to women until 1991.)

NBC News reported that those who opposed the same-sex marriage referendum argued that it would undermine the “traditional” family unit.

“On our side we have tried to draw attention to the central problem, the one of children and medically assisted procreation,” Benjamin Roduit of the Christian Democratic People’s Party told the network. “On that point, I think we have succeeded in raising awareness among the Swiss people and we will still be here when other steps will be proposed.”

According to the AP, those campaigning against the referendum have been accused of unfair tactics, such as ripping down posters and flooding LGBTQ hotlines with complaints.

Both Switzerland’s legislative and executive leaders had supported the “Marriage for All” measure, which was sparked by an initiative that launched eight years ago.

“This is a historic day for us and for Switzerland, this is a great step forward, something we have been waiting for for years,” Laura Russo, co-president of the Geneva Federation of LGBT Associations, told the AP at a celebration held following the announcement of the measure’s passage. “This initiative was begun in 2013; we had to wait 8 years for the vote to happen — and here, this is a big ‘Yes.'”