Swiss voters approve law allowing same-sex marriages
By Noele Illien
ZURICH — Voters in Switzerland overwhelmingly decided Sunday (26) to legalize same-sex marriage, making the country one of the last in Western Europe to do so.
In addition to opening up the option of marriage to all couples, an amendment to Switzerland’s marriage law that was put to voters in a referendum, and approved, grants lesbian couples access to sperm banks and allows same-sex couples to adopt children.
The marriage laws were amended by the federal government and approved last year by parliament to grant all couples the same rights. But opponents seeking to limit marriages to unions between a man and a woman collected enough signatures to force a referendum.
Polls by local news media had predicted widespread approval for same-sex marriage in Switzerland, but they also showed the opposition gaining some last-minute momentum after an intense advertising campaign. The legislation change was accepted by 64.1% of voters and received strong support in both urban and rural areas.
The result has been hailed as a milestone for the LGBTQ community in the alpine nation, which has long lagged other Western European countries in terms of gender issues.
Since 2007, same-sex couples in Switzerland have been able to enter into a civil partnership, which grants some legal rights but is not equal to a marriage. The only country in Western Europe now that does not allow marriage between same-sex couples is Italy; it does, however, allow civil unions.
Kathrin Bertschy, a Swiss politician who had strongly campaigned in favour of same-sex marriage, described the result as “a milestone” for Switzerland. She said the outcome meant that the existing marriage law could be applied to everyone.
Under the new, amended law, same-sex couples are able to have a civil wedding and will be granted largely the same institutional and legal rights as heterosexual couples. This includes simplified naturalization for foreign partners, as well as access to fertility treatments and the ability to adopt children.
Until now, couples in same-sex partnerships could not use Swiss sperm banks. They had also been prohibited from adopting children, even though unmarried people were allowed to do so.
-New York Times