A Marriage blessed by the People

If it were up to the Swiss parliament or the Swiss government alone, same-sex couples would be allowed to marry in Switzerland. But it is the people who will have the last word. This coming 26th of September, we are called to exercise direct democracy, again. The reason we’re voting on this question is that a referendum against the parliament’s draft bill legalising same-sex marriage was launched. Most laws passed by parliament come into force without the People voting on them. And therefore they go largely unnoticed. In Switzerland, any citizen who has the right to vote, including Swiss abroad, can launch a popular referendum. If the authors of the referendum collect the required 50,000 valid signatures, the bill must be put to the vote of the people.

The same-sex bill aims to correct inequalities

Today in Switzerland two women or two men can only enter into a registered civil partnership. While this legal partnership is much like marriage in most rights, it discriminates in others. The proposed bill will allow same-sex couples to adopt a child together, and if one of the partners is foreign, he or she will benefit from a shorter and less expensive naturalisation process, as is the case for married couples. And, lesbian couples will have access to sperm donations, as is the case for women in heterosexual marriages. The proposed bill puts an end to long-standing…