Kudos to Switzerland for their latest good news. Usually when it comes to politics they are infamously known for trying to always stay neutral that dates back to the stance they took in WW2.
However they came off to fence yesterday when the country went to the Polls. Some 63 percent (to 37 percent) voted to approve an amendment that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, extending Switzerland’s racism laws.
It has all come about after members of the LGBTQ community had complaine that they were often physically attacked, some even hospitalised. On the other had other groups of young men told a newspaper they felt it was ok to hit openly gay couples, even suggesting they could be ‘cured with a few punches’.
According to a report in the NY Times “Interior Minister Alain Berset said in a video message to voters that jokes about gay men and lesbians would still be allowed “as long as they respect human dignity.”
Switzerland has long trailed behind most of its neighbors in L.G.B.T.Q. rights, ranking 27th of 49 European countries in the 2019 report of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. They did not have a law that specifically protects lesbians, gay men and bisexual people from discrimination. Publicly denigrating someone’s sexual orientation, or inciting hatred against someone in public, could not be prosecuted.
Though same-sex partnerships are legal in Switzerland, same-sex marriage is not. This new law should not just improve their ranking, but more importantly make it feel safer for the community with this new level of security
Labels: 2020, gay rights, Switzerland
