page_title: LGBT rights in Switzerland
section_title: Criminal law
hierarchical_section_title: LGBT rights in Switzerland / Discrimination protections / Anti-discrimination laws / Criminal law
caption_attribution_description: English: Map showing how the Swiss electorate voted on the anti-discrimination legislation in the 9 February 2020 referendum, by district.
context_page_description: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights in Switzerland are relatively progressive by European standards, although LGBT people lack full legal equality. Its history is one of liberalisation at an increasing pace since the 1940s, in parallel to the legal situation in Europe and the Western world more generally. Despite this, same-sex marriage, full joint adoption and IVF access remain unavailable in Switzerland as of 2020.
  Same-sex sexual acts between adults have been legal in Switzerland since 1942. The age of consent has been equal at 16 for heterosexual and homosexual sex since 1992. There has been legal recognition for same-sex relationships since 2007. A legal procedure for the registration of sex changes following sex reassignment surgery was outlined in 1993, though since 2010, authorities have followed a practice of registration of sex changes without any requirement of surgery. The Swiss Constitution of 1999 guarantees equal treatment before the law, specifying "way of life" as one of the criteria protected against discrimination. Certain forms of homophobic discrimination have been a criminal offense since a February 2020 referendum.
context_section_description: Since February 2020, discrimination because of a person's "sexual orientation" is prohibited by Art. 261ᵇⁱˢ of the Swiss Criminal Code. This category was added by a 2018 law, adopted by Swiss voters in a referendum on 9 February 2020, to a provision that already prohibited discrimination because of race, ethnic origin or religion. The specific prohibited acts are:
  public incitement to hatred or discrimination,
  the public dissemination of ideologies or propaganda campaigns that have as their object the systematic denigration or defamation of persons,
  public denigration or discrimination of persons in a manner that violates human dignity, or
  refusing to provide a service that is intended to be provided to the general public.
  Violations are liable to be punished by a custodial sentence not exceeding three years, or a monetary penalty.
  This change in law was initiated in 2013 by Mathias Reynard, an MP of the Social Democratic Party, with a bill to outlaw all "discrimination and incitement of hatred" on the basis of "race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation". On 11 March 2015, the National Council voted 103-73 to allow the bill to continue through the legislative process. The Committee of Legal Affairs of the Council of States allowed the bill to proceed on 23 April 2015. In February 2017, the Committee of Legal Affairs of the National Council approved, in a 15–9 vote, an amendment to the bill adding "gender identity" as a prohibited ground of discrimination. The bill was opposed by several members of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), which regarded it as unnecessary, although the party as a whole chose not to take a position on the bill. The other parties mostly supported the bill, as did 86% of the Swiss people according to polls.
  In August 2018, the Federal Council announced its support for the proposal, but recommended that the term gender identity be removed due to its "vagueness". The National Council refused to remove the term, and approved the bill on 25 September 2018, in a 118–60 vote with 5 abstentions. On 7 November 2018, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States approved in a 9 to 2 vote (with 1 abstention) the legal change to make discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity illegal. Outlining its decision to also include gender identity, the committee said transgender and intersex people were the victims of discrimination alongside homosexuals and bisexuals. In November 2018, the Council of States approved the bill in a 32–10 vote. However, by 23 votes to 18, it voted to remove the term "gender identity" due to it being "too vague". Many deputies and LGBT organisations welcomed the extension of the law to include sexual orientation, but expressed disappointment that gender identity was excluded, which according to Transgender Network Switzerland "excludes and further marginalises intersex and transgender people. [The law] will only be complete when it condemns discrimination based on gender identity." Because the legal text had been altered, the National Council had to re-vote on it. On 3 December, despite demands from the Social Democracts and the Greens, in a 107–77 vote, it voted to exclude gender identity from the bill. By April 2019, opponents had collected 70,000 signatures to force a referendum on the law. Despite concerns over the validity of the signatures, as several people reportedly signed the initiative believing it to be a campaign against homophobia, a referendum took place on 9 February 2020. Swiss voters approved the law with about 63% voting in favor.
caption: Map showing how the Swiss electorate voted in the February 2020 anti-discrimination referendum, by district.
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