Compass Gender: Switzerland Votes to Ban Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation

The referendum vote in Switzerland will include sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws. (Pixabay)

Swiss voters favored a referendum to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation on February 9. The ballot showed that 63.1 percent of voters were in favor of making homophobic discrimination illegal.

Under Article 261 of the Swiss criminal code, it is against the law to discriminate based on race, ethnicity, or religion. 

Violations include publicizing hateful or discriminatory ideologies; creating propaganda; refusing to provide services; denying, trivializing, or justifying crimes against humanity; and undermining human dignity by word, in writing, in pictures, through gestures, or through acts of aggression. Violators could face fines or up to three years in prison.

The referendum will now expand Article 261 to include discrimination based on sexual orientation. The revision protects gay and bisexual individuals from discrimination in the public sphere and does not cover private discussions between family and friends, nor objective public debate. 

The most notable exclusion from the bill’s protections is gender identity. The bill originally included transgender people, but the Council of States, the Swiss Federal Assembly’s upper house, denied the protections due to vague criteria.

The referendum stems from the decision of Switzerland’s parliament to expand the anti-discrimination law to encompass sexual orientation in 2018. While the government was on track to make the law more inclusive, the Federal Democratic Union, a conservative political party, gathered enough signatures to call the nationwide referendum, delaying the bill’s implementation.

Three cantons opposed the referendum on February 9. The opposition was primarily recorded in rural regions in central and eastern Switzerland, while the highest approval came from urban areas and French- and Italian-speaking regions.

Many opponents of the referendum argue that it limits free speech. Others are concerned that specifically naming sexuality in the bill portrays the gay and bisexual community as weak and in need of special treatment. 

Karin Keller-Sutter, a member of the Swiss Federal Council, attempted to eliminate people’s worries about free speech. She said that “nobody has to fear anything if they remain respectful.”

Supporters consider specific protections for the gay community a necessary step toward equality, pointing out that they would protect those who are targeted based on sexual orientation. Jean-Pierre Sgrist, a gay rights advocate, thinks the law could act as "an added safeguard against homophobia.” After getting beat up more than 40 years ago and laughed at by the police, he believes a specific protection prohibiting discrimination against gay people will make experiences like his less common.

While the vote sends a “strong signal against homophobia,” Switzerland still has room for progress. Switzerland ranks only 28th out of 49 European countries for LGBT rights and remains one of just a few western European countries that still does not recognize same-sex marriage.