In early December 2020, the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house voted in favour of same sex marriage, finalising a government decision to change Switzerland’s laws to allow marriage equality for all. Since then those opposed to the idea have been busy.
Recently, an initiative was launched against same sex union. The proposed vote is highly focused on a specific element of marriage equality: medically assisted procreation.
The referendum is entitled: Yes to marriage and family, no to marriage for everyone. The committee behind it describe themselves as: The non-partisan referendum committee against marriage for everyone and access to sperm donation for lesbian couples.
The organisers, who describe same sex union as pseudo marriage, believe the planned legal changes required to implement it undermine the constitution. Article 14 of Switzerland’s constitution guarantees a right to marriage and family. The organisers argue that this means the natural union of men and women, a definition that excludes same sex union.
According to the initiative website, the committee behind the recent initiative includes a number of members of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP/UDC), the Democratic Christian Party (CVP/PDC) and the Federal Democratic Union (EDU/UDF).
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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