In early December 2020, the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house voted in favour of same sex marriage, finalising a government decision to change Switzerland’s laws to allow marriage equality for all. Since then those opposed to the idea have been busy.
The proposed referendum is entitled: Yes to marriage and family, no to marriage for everyone. The committee behind it describes themselves as: The non-partisan referendum committee against marriage for everyone and access to sperm donation for lesbian couples, suggesting the vote is focused on a specific element of marriage equality: medically assisted procreation.
The organisers, who describe same sex union as pseudo marriage, believe the planned legal changes required to implement it undermine the constitution. Article 14 of Switzerland’s constitution guarantees a right to marriage and family, and vote organisers argue that this means the natural union of men and women, a definition that excludes same sex marriage.
According to the initiative website, the committee behind the recent initiative includes a number of members of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP/UDC), the Democratic Christian Party (CVP/PDC) and the Federal Democratic Union (EDU/UDF).
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