Recognition of same-sex unions in Switzerland
Party Voted for Voted against Abstained Absent ( Did not vote )
Swiss People 's Party ( SVP/UDC ) 11 Céline Amaudruz Lars Guggisberg Diana Gutjahr Thomas Hurter Christian Imark Roger Köppel Nadja Pieren Sandra Sollberger-Muff Barbara Steinemann Hans-Ueli Vogt Walter Wobmann 32 Jean-Luc Addor Thomas Aeschi Michaël Buffat Thomas Burgherr Thomas de Courten Marcel Dettling Yvette Estermann Andrea Geissbühler Bejamin Giezendanner Andreas Glarner Jean-Pierre Grin-Hofmann Frank Grüter Martin Haab Alfred Heer Verena Herzog Erich Hess Alois Huber Peter Keller Piero Marchesi Magdalena Martullo-Blocher Thomas Matter Yves Nidegger Albert Rösti Monika Rüegger Franz Ruppen Gregor Rutz Therese Schläpfer Pirmin Schwander Mauro Tuena Erich von Siebenthal Bruno Walliser David Zuberbühler 10 Andreas Aebi Martina Bircher Roland Rino Büchel Mike Egger Esther Friedli Stefanie Heimgartner Jacques Nicolet Pierre-André Page Lukas Reimann Manuel Strupler -
Social Democratic Party ( SP/PS ) 39 Matthias Aebischer Mustafa Atici Jacqueline Badran Angelo Barrile Samuel Bendahan Prisca Birrer-Heimo Brigitte Crottaz Christian Dandrès Laurence Fehlmann Rielle Yvonne Feri Pierre-Alain Fridez Claudia Friedl Tamara Funiciello Edith Graf-Litscher Barbara Gysi Baptiste Hurni Beat Jans Sandra Locher Benguerel Pierre-Yves Maillard Ada Marra Min Li Marti Samira Marti Nadine Masshardt Mattea Meyer Fabian Molina Martina Munz Roger Nordmann Eric Nussbaumer Valérie Piller Carrard Jon Pult Mathias Reynard Franziska Roth Ursula Schneider Schüttel Prisca Seiler Graf Bruno Storni Gabriela Suter Flavia Wasserfallen Cédric Wermuth Céline Widmer - - -
FDP.The Liberals ( FDP/PLR ) 26 Frédéric Borloz Jacques Bourgeois Rocco Cattaneo Damien Cottier Simone de Montmollin Jacqueline de Quattro Marcel Dobler Christoph Eymann Alex Farinelli Olivier Feller Doris Fiala Kurt Fluri Anna Giacometti Petra Gössi Matthias Jauslin Christian Lüscher Christa Markwalder Philippe Nantermod Hans-Peter Portmann Maja Riniker Regine Sauter Daniela Schneeberger Andri Silberschmidt Susanne Vincenz-Stauffacher Beat Walti Laurent Wehrli - 1 Christian Wassfallen 2 Isabelle Moret Albert Vitali
Green Party ( GPS/PES ) 28 Gerhard Andrey Sibel Arslan Christine Badertscher Kilian Baumann Daniel Brélaz Florence Brenzikofer Christophe Clivaz Kurt Egger Fabien Fivaz Bastien Girod Balthasar Glättli Greta Gysin Irène Kälin Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini Sophie Michaud Gigon Isabelle Pasquier-Eichenberger Léonore Porchet Katharina Precliz-Huber Valentine Python Franziska Ryser Regula Rytz Marionna Schlatter Meret Schneider Michael Töngi Aline Trede Nicolas Walder Manuela Weichelt-Picard Felix Wettstein - - -
Christian Democratic People 's Party ( CVP/PDC ) 8 Marianne Binder-Keller Ida Glanzmann-Hunkeler Ruth Humbel Philipp Kutter Vincent Maitre Marie-France Roth Pasquier Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter Simon Stadler 15 Philipp Matthias Bergy Christine Bulliard-Marbach Martin Candinas Alois Gmür Jean-Paul Gschwind Sidney Kamerzin Christian Lohr Leo Müller Nicolo Paganini Gerhard Pfister Thomas Rechsteiner Fabio Regazzi Markus Ritter Benjamin Roduit Marco Romano 2 Stefan Müller-Altermatt Priska Wismer-Felder -
Green Liberal Party ( glp/pvl ) 16 Martin Bäumle Judith Bellaïche Kathrin Bertschy Thomas Brunner Isabelle Chevalley Katja Christ Roland Fischer Beat Flach Corina Gredig Jürg Grossen Jörg Mäder Michel Matter Melanie Mettler Tiana Angelina Moser François Pointet Barbara Schaffner - - -
Conservative Democratic Party ( BDP/PBD ) 2 Martin Landolt Heinz Siegenthaler - - 1 Lorenz Hess
Evangelical People 's Party ( EVP/PEV ) - 3 Niklaus-Samuel Gugger Marianne Streiff Lilian Studer - -
Ticino League ( Lega ) - 1 Lorenzo Quadri - -
Solidarity ( solidaritéS ) 1 Stefania Prezioso Batou - - -
Swiss Party of Labour ( PdA/PST-POP ) 1 Denis de la Reussille - - -
Federal Democratic Union ( EDU/UDF ) - 1 Andreas Gafner - -
Total 132 52 13 3
Same-sex marriage -- The Green Liberal Party 's parliamentary initiative
In December 2013 , the Green Liberal Party submitted a parliamentary initiative for a constitutional amendment with the aim of legalising same-sex marriage . [ 95 ] [ 96 ] On 20 February 2015 , the Committee for Legal Affairs of the National Council voted to proceed with the initiative , by 12 votes to 9 with 1 abstention . [ 97 ] In May 2015 , a petition supporting the bill was launched . The signatures were submitted to the Committee for Legal Affairs of the Council of States before they discussed the bill , hoping to persuade them to support it . [ 98 ] [ 99 ] On 1 September 2015 , the committee voted by 7 votes to 5 to proceed with the initiative . [ 100 ] The National Council 's Legal Affairs Committee was then tasked to draft an act within two years ( per Article 111 of the Constitution ) , i.e . by 2017 . However , due to the complexity of the legal reform , it proposed on 11 May 2017 to extend the initiative 's deadline by another two years ( i.e . by 2019 ) and ask the government administration for further study of the issue . [ 101 ] [ 102 ] A minority consisting of the Swiss People 's Party ( SVP/UDC ) wanted to block the initiative . On 16 June 2017 , the National Council voted by 118-71 in favour of the committee 's proposal to extend the deadline to 2019 . [ 103 ] [ 104 ] [ 105 ] The Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council met on 17 May 2018 , the International Day Against Homophobia , to discuss the legal ramifications of legalising same-sex marriage , such as the necessary amendments to other laws , and to begin drafting a marriage law . The committee recommended that the Swiss Civil Code be amended to remove the heterosexual definition of marriage and that a gender-neutral definition be inserted . It also recommended amendments to the 1953 civil registration law , which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman . Other laws , including laws relating to naturalisation , would also be amended . Additionally , according to the committee and the Justice Ministry , the proposal would automatically legalise joint adoption for married same-sex couples . As such , the committee recommended no changes to adoption law , which allows married couples to adopt without explicitly defining `` marriage '' . [ 106 ] On 6 July 2018 , the committee voted against rejecting the initiative altogether , by 18-1 , and subsequently voted to recommend the Federal Parliament to approve the initiative by 14 votes to 11 . Furthermore , the committee concluded that the legalisation of same-sex marriage did not require amending the Swiss Federal Constitution , and that it could be achieved through changes to statutory law . Therefore , the Swiss electorate will not necessarily be called to vote on the initiative ( though opponents could still force a referendum on the issue , which would require a simple majority of those voting to succeed ) . Despite the protests of LGBT groups , [ 107 ] the committee decided to leave out assisted reproductive technology for lesbian couples and widow 's pension so that the initiative would have a higher chance of approval . [ 108 ] [ 109 ] [ 110 ] In early July 2018 , Operation Libero began collecting signatures in favour of same-sex marriage , to persuade Parliament to legalise it , collecting 30,000 signatures within a week . [ 107 ] On 14 February 2019 , the National Council 's Legal Affairs Committee approved the bill to allow same-sex marriage by 19 to 4 , with one abstention . It was sent out for public consultation . The bill would also end registered partnerships , and couples would be able to convert their partnerships into marriage . [ 111 ] [ 112 ] [ 113 ] [ 114 ] The consultation started on 14 March and lasted until 21 June 2019 . [ 115 ] [ 116 ] It showed wide support for the legalisation of same-sex marriage among all main political parties , [ 117 ] with the exception of the Swiss People 's Party , and among 22 of the 26 cantonal governments . [ 118 ] In January 2020 , the Federal Council expressed support for the same-sex marriage bill . [ 2 ] On 11 June 2020 , the National Council approved the bill , with amendments allowing access to fertility treatments for lesbian couples , in a 132-52 vote . [ 119 ] [ 120 ] [ 121 ] [ 122 ] The bill was supported by the Social Democrats , the Liberals , the Greens , the Green Liberals and the Conservative Democrats , while the Swiss People 's Party was mostly opposed . The Christian Democrats announced they would support the bill if access to fertility treatments for lesbian couples was excluded . [ 123 ]
Switzerland has allowed registered partnerships for same-sex couples since 1 January 2007, after a 2005 referendum. A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was drafted by the Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council, and was finalized in early 2019. It was sent to the Swiss Parliament for deliberation. A law passed by Parliament can be challenged by opponents in a referendum, if they collect 50,000 valid signatures within 100 days. Opinion polls suggest that the bill has popular support in Switzerland, and a 2019 consultation found large political support.