Swiss legislative committee backs same-sex marriage

Posted on: 12:34, February 24 (Tue), 2015 2015-02-24T12:34:24+00:00

Categories: From the World, LGBT Guide LT, News

Members of a Swiss legislative committee on Friday overwhelmingly recommended their European country extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council, which is the lower house of the Swiss Federal Assembly, by a 12-2 vote margin approved the “marriage for all” initiative the Green Liberal Party introduced. One lawmaker abstained from the vote.

A coalition of seven Swiss LGBT advocacy groups that include Pink Cross, Swiss Rainbow Families Association and Transgender Network Switzerland in a statement applauded the vote.

“The Swiss LGBT umbrella associations support marriage equality and applaud the members of the Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council for their support and foresight and for assuming their responsibility to grant all Swiss the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution,” they said. “We are not asking for special rights; we are simply asking for equality. And we are asking for marriage equality because our relationships are as strong and our families are as worthy as those of everyone else in Switzerland.”

Neighboring France is among the European countries in which gays and lesbians can legally marry.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on Friday signed into law a bill that extends marriage rights to gays and lesbians in his Scandinavian country. A referendum on whether to allow gays and lesbians to tie the knot in Ireland will take place on May 22.

Switzerland’s Partnership Act, under which same-sex relationships are legally recognized, took effect in January 2007. The country’s highest court less than two years later ruled that gays and lesbians in long-term relationships were entitled to receive the same death benefits from their partner’s pensions that heterosexuals do.

The same-sex marriage proposal the Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council approved will now go before the Legal Affairs Committees of Council of State, which is the upper chamber of the Swiss Federal Assembly.

“There are all kinds of reasons for people to want to get married – as a sign of love, for financial security or to legally guard against an uncertain future,” said the Swiss advocacy groups in their press release. “Marriage equality does not weaken traditional marriage, it strengthens it. It creates reliable structures that serve society as a whole. Marriage equality for same-sex couples brings the law in line with changed societal values. Family law should aim to reflect reality, not preserve outdated value propositions.”

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