According to partial results from a Swiss referendum, the country is supporting a law to make homophobia illegal. Unlike other western European countries, there are no specific laws protecting to LGBTQIA+ community from discrimination in Switzerland.
According to Al Jazeera, early figures that were released on Sunday 9 February showed a 60.5% vote in favour of making existing laws more inclusive. Specifically, the laws around discrimination and incitement of hatred on ethnic or religious grounds will now also include sexual orientation if passed.
Mathias Reynard, who initiated the reform and is a politician from the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, told Swiss channel RTS 1: ‘This is a historic day. It gives a signal which is magnificent for everyone and for anyone who has been a victim of discrimination.’
According to Al Jazeera, out of the 26 cantons (member states) of Switzerland, 23 have voted in favour of the law. Geneva has the highest rate of approval at 76.3%. Three cantons, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Schwyz and Uri voted against it.
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