page_title: LGBT rights in Switzerland
section_title: Military service
hierarchical_section_title: LGBT rights in Switzerland / Military service
caption_attribution_description: In the army...
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 1992, homosexuality and bisexuality are no longer mentioned in the Military Criminal Code (MCC). After a referendum on 17 May 1992, the then Article 127 dealing with unnatural fornication in the military ("Who makes a lewd affair with a person of the same sex will be punished with prison ...") was abolished.
  Since 2013, some transgender people have been able to serve openly in the Swiss Armed Forces. In that year, the case of a cook whose deployment to KFOR service was initially canceled after she came out as transgender was discussed in a high-profile TV programme. As a result, the Army changed its policy to allow the service of transgender people if a medical examination determines that they are "in good physical and psychical health, sufficiently resistant to stress, resilient and able to be subordinate", and it established a diversity office. Since 2019, the draft form has allowed draftees to indicate their gender identity separately from their assigned sex, a change proposed by LGBT rights organizations. However, transsexuality or gender dysphoria remain reasons for dismissal according to Army regulations. Army medical officials said that about 18 draftees were so diagnosed annually. In 2019, a trans man was refused recruitment because of these regulations; but the Chief of the Armed Forces, Philippe Rebord, said that they and the case would be reviewed. In September 2019, Lt Col Christine Hug became the first trans woman to command a battalion.
caption: Members of the Swiss Armed Forces marching at an LGBT pride parade
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