Switzerland is one of the last Western European countries that have still imposed ban on same-sex marriages. Swiss voters will decide on Sunday whether to allow gay marriages and adoption for same-sex couples, in a referendum.
The amended law has already been approved by the federal government and the parliament. The opponents with the leadership of right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) had petitioned a referendum on gay marriages under direct democracy system of Switzerland.
According to the reports, a majority of 63% of respondents, who took part in the latest opinion poll, said they were in favour of the legalisation of same-sex marriages. They also mentioned that the campaign against gay marriages called ‘no’ campaign had also gathered steam in the few past weeks.
The final result of the poll would be declared later on Sunday. If the results support the amended law, it would make it possible for the gay couples to get married and also to adopt children unrelated to them, like the cis-hetero couples. Married lesbians could also have children through sperm donation, which is currently legal for the heterosexual couples.
During the campaign against gay marriages, opponents of the reform used images of crying babies while the supporters waved pride flags with ‘Yes, I do’ quoted on them. The right to enter civil partnership and the right to adopt children parented by their partners were attained by the LGBTQ community of Switzerland in 2007 and 2018 respectively.
Opponents argued that the reform would deprive children of a father as it would allow lesbian married couples to give birth to children without a father, through sperm donation. The time taken for the current adoption procedure is three years for the gay couples.
The proposed legal reform would also make it easier to obtain citizenship of the foreign spouse of a Swiss citizen.
Post Your Comments