11.06.2020

Swiss National Council says YES to marriage equality!

by Sabine Hannakampf

Today was a promising day for the queer community in Switzerland: the National Council voted in favour of the “Marriage for All” initiative (including sperm donation) and the Council of States decided to make changes to one’s registered gender in the future.

Due to differences of opinion on the question of whether lesbian couples are allowed to use sperm donations to have children, the vote on the “Marriage for All” initiative planned for June 3rd had to be postponed (we had reported).

Yesterday the time had come – and it was worth the wait. An overwhelming majority of the Swiss National Council, the large chamber of the Swiss Parliament, voted in favour of the “Marriage for All” initiative (132 votes to 52 with 13 abstentions) today. The parliamentarians also agreed that married women should be allowed to use sperm donations.

Yes! Eine grosse Mehrheit des Nationalrats sagt Ja zur Ehe für alle inkl. Zugang zur Samenspende. Jetzt liegt der Ball beim Ständerat. Liebe ist Liebe, Familie ist Familie! pic.twitter.com/O2eiMSlIzK

— Min Li Marti (@minlimarti) June 11, 2020

However, this is far from overcoming all political obstacles. In a next step, the bill must also be approved by the small chamber of the Swiss parliament, the Council of States.

The power of the predominantly conservative Council of States has only recently become apparent again: Last September, the National Council had voted in favour of a statistical recording of homophobic, bi-, trans- and inter-hate crimes, but the Council of States was against it and the motion was rejected.

Opponents want a referendum

Switzerland’s Federal Democratic Union (EDU) has already announced that it will hold a referendum if the bill is passed by both chambers of parliament. “Out of concern for the historically grown institution of marriage”, as it says in an open letter to the parliamentarians, the Christian-national-conservative party vehemently fights against same-sex marriage, which would be tantamount to an “unacceptable dilution” of traditional marriage.

But even a referendum is unlikely to have the potential to seriously jeopardise the “marriage for all” initiative. Surveys have shown that the overwhelming majority of Swiss citizens* support the equality of homosexual couples.

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+Die Schweiz will die #Ehefüralle!🏳️‍🌈+ Am nächsten Mittwoch wird die Ehe für alle endlich im Nationalrat behandelt! Aktuell werden in dieser entscheidenden Phase der Ehe für alle vom Parlament zwei verschiedene Varianten diskutiert: Die «Partnerschaft Plus» und die Ehe für alle mit tatsächlicher Gleichstellung. Die Variante der «Partnerschaft Plus» würde zu neuen Ungleichbehandlungen führen und wäre nur in wenigen Punkten eine relevante Verbesserung zur eingetragenen Partnerschaft: So würde der Zugang zum Adoptionsverfahren und die erleichterte Einbürgerung ermöglicht. Doch die Absicherung der Familie und der Schutz von Kindern wird in dieser Variante ignoriert. Die Mehrheit der vorberatenden Kommission und der Bundesrat haben sich leider für diese «Partnerschaft Plus»-Variante ausgesprochen. Doch wir können das nicht akzeptieren. Unsere Position ist klar: Ohne tatsächlicher Gleichstellung und dem damit verbundenen Schutz von Paaren und Familien, kann man nicht von einer Ehe für alle sprechen. Wir kämpfen deshalb für die zweite Variante, bei der gleichgeschlechtliche Paare in allen Bereichen heterosexuellen Paaren gleichgestellt wären. Die Ehe für alle mit tatsächlicher Gleichstellung würde also auch Familien und Kinder absichern und Frauenpaaren den Zugang zur Samenspenden ermöglichen. Das, was für heterosexuelle Ehepaare schon lange möglich ist. Wir geben in diesen letzten Tagen vor der Abstimmung nochmal alles und führen mit den Nationalrat*innen viele Gespräche, damit die Ehe für alle mit tatsächlicher Gleichstellung eine Mehrheit findet!🏳️‍🌈

A post shared by Pink Cross (@pinkcross_ch) on May 30, 2020 at 7:49am PDT

Facilitated change of gender entry for inter* and trans* people of full age

In the Swiss Council of States today a success was achieved for inter* and trans* people. With regard to a simplification in changing the gender entry of inter-gender and transsexual persons, the Council of States today spoke out in favour of a revision of the Civil Code. It was decided by 31 votes to 7 (with 7 abstentions) that the gender entry can be changed in future by a simple declaration to the registrar. However, this regulation only applies to persons over 18 years of age, minors are excluded.

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