Swiss legalization of gay marriage in Europe still needs work

Written by: Manessa

Text editor: Maizi

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Switzerland held a referendum on equal marriage rights in September, and more than 60 percent of the people voted in favor of the bill, making Switzerland the 30th country in the world to pass same-sex marriage. However, compared with the Netherlands, the first country that passed same-sex marriage in 2001, the legalization of same-sex marriage in Switzerland is actually 20 years slower. Over the years, Switzerland has faced many obstacles on the issue of equality, and the referendum itself was initiated by conservatives to overturn the parliament's decision to pass marriage equality, only to get an "unexpected" result. Kurt, the representative of Hong Kong wedding planning company "Next Chapter" , said that Switzerland has always been not a country where Hong Kong same-sex couples can choose to marry.

Switzerland struggles to legalize same-sex marriage

Switzerland has historically been one of the few countries in Western Europe to be late to adopt same-sex marriage. Although the same-sex couples have been allowed to join civil unions as early as 2007, civil partners have different rights to naturalization than married spouses, and they cannot adopt children. Swiss political parties proposed a reform bill for equal marriage rights in 2013, but it has been controversial for many years, and it was not officially passed in parliament until December last year. Conservative parties immediately objected and launched a referendum to withdraw the implementation of the bill.

According to the Swiss constitution, as long as there are at least 50,000 citizens signed, a referendum can be launched to overturn the decision of parliament. In Switzerland, political parties and people who opposed same-sex marriage in the past were mainly from Christian conservative groups, and the situation was similar to that in other European countries. Local organizations concerned with gender/gender minorities also pointed out that before the referendum, their posters calling on the public to support same-sex marriage were also torn and burned. Relatively rare, reflecting the existence of homophobia in Switzerland. But Switzerland has a special referendum system. Conservatives have launched referendums on gay issues five times, and each time they have been defeated.

Switzerland held a national referendum on "equal marriage" on September 26. As a result, the bill was passed with 64.1% of the support rate, and none of the 26 states in the country opposed it. The new law, which will come into effect on July 1 next year, will make it easier for foreign same-sex couples to obtain Swiss citizenship and facilitate access to legal sperm donation services for lesbian couples. But local laws still prohibit anonymous sperm or egg donation, as well as surrogacy.

Switzerland struggles to become popular country for same-sex marriage in Hong Kong

Since Hong Kong does not currently recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions, same-sex couples who wish to marry will choose to register overseas. Kurt, the representative of Hong Kong-based wedding planning company Next Chapter, said that according to Swiss law, one partner of a couple must be a local citizen before they can register their marriage there. Therefore, regardless of whether Switzerland has achieved equal marriage rights, it is generally difficult for Hong Kong couples to marry there. Kurt also pointed out that when Hong Kong same-sex couples decide which country to marry, they will mainly consider whether they can immigrate to live there in the future, then consider the cost of air tickets, accommodation, travel and other issues, and finally whether the scenery of the wedding photo is in line with their own wishes , such as whether there is a castle, etc.

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In the current environment of immigration, the United Kingdom is still the country where more Hong Kong people choose to go to get married, because no matter whether they are officially married or civil union, partners can also enjoy spousal rights when they return to Hong Kong. However, Kurt also admitted that in the case that Hong Kong still does not accept same-sex marriage, even if Switzerland or other countries adopt same-sex marriage, the impact on local same-sex couples is actually not great. Therefore, he felt helpless over the years of "unchangeable wind and rain" in Hong Kong. "Not to mention the legalization of same-sex marriage, we still have a long way to go even if we strive for civil union of same-sex couples."

Some European constitutions still have huge restrictions on same-sex marriage

Although Switzerland has adopted same-sex marriage, there are still many countries in Europe that have not legalized same-sex marriage. Italy in southern Europe is one of them. Italy, the country where the Vatican, the center of Catholic power, is located, only passed civil unions for same-sex couples in 2016.

As for Central and Eastern Europe, at least 10 countries in the region have constitutional restrictions that prevent same-sex marriage from legalizing, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank. For example, the constitution defines marriage as one man and one woman. combine and so on. Therefore, same-sex marriage is prohibited even though some of these countries have adopted civil unions for same-sex couples.

The EU may play an important role in promoting gay rights

So far, the EU has not asked its member states to legislate to allow same-sex marriage. However, in 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union also pointed out that the right of same-sex couples to enter, leave and stay freely must be upheld. In addition, in the 2015 European Parliament report, the EU and its member states were encouraged to "reflect on the recognition of same-sex marriage or civil union of same-sex couples as an issue of government, society, human rights and citizenship".

Therefore, the EU has also intervened in the past when member states suspected of having policies that harmed the rights and interests of sexual or other minorities. For example, the European Commission has pursued legal action over Hungary’s recently passed law prohibiting adoption of children by same-sex couples, and its policy prohibiting the distribution of any homosexual or transgender-related content to minors, alleging that the law is incompatible with EU law and principles . In addition, the EU has also withheld funding for some of Poland's cities in the past for its policy of trying to divide the community into exclusionary minorities and signing the "Family Rights" Act involving discriminatory minorities, and finally succeeded in getting the relevant cities to withdraw. such a statement.

For a long time, Western Europe is considered to be the region with the fastest development of equal marriage rights in the world. However, some representatives of European gay organizations also pointed out that sometimes we cannot simply use the geographical boundaries of Eastern and Western Europe to understand local gender/gender equality issues. For example, Western European countries such as the United Kingdom, Belgium and France have legalized same-sex marriage, but local There are still many homophobic hate crimes; for example, in Eastern Europe, some countries in the Balkans have passed laws to protect the rights of intersex persons, but Western European countries such as Germany and France are relatively backward in this regard, and Germany does not even allow homosexuality. A partner adopts a child. In short, the LGBTQ movement around the world is still a long way from success, and European countries and even countries around the world still have their own work to do on this road.

Source: Euronews

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Further reading: Global database of legal regions for same-sex marriage

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