 
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Switzerland since 1 July 2022. Legislation to open marriage to same-sex couples passed the Swiss Parliament in December 2020. The law was challenged in a referendum on 26 September 2021 by opponents of same-sex marriage and was approved with the support of 64% of voters and a majority in all 26 cantons. The law went into force on 1 July 2022. A provision of the law permitting same-sex marriages performed abroad to be recognised in Switzerland took effect on 1 January 2022. Switzerland was the seventeenth country in Europe and the 30th in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Switzerland allowed registered partnerships for same-sex couples from 1 January 2007, following a 2005 referendum. These partnerships provided most, but not all, of the rights and benefits of marriage. Since the introduction of same-sex marriage on 1 July 2022, registered partnerships are no longer available in Switzerland.
Registered partnerships.
Passage and referendum.
In a nationwide referendum on 5 June 2005, Swiss voters approved a registered partnership law granting same-sex couples the same rights and protections as married couples in terms of next of kin status, taxation, social security, insurance, and shared possession of a dwelling. However, same-sex couples would not have the same rights in terms of joint adoption of children, access to fertility treatments, and facilitated Swiss naturalisation of the foreign partner. Swiss law provides a faster route to citizenship for the spouse of a Swiss citizen, but did not recognise same-sex marriages conducted in foreign countries, instead classing them as registered partnerships.
The official title of the same-sex union is in German, in French, in Italian, and in Romansh. The bill was passed by the National Council, 118 to 50, on 3 December 2003, and by the Council of States on 3 June 2004 by 33 votes to 5, with minor changes. The National Council approved it again on 18 June, by a vote of 112 to 51, but the conservative Federal Democratic Union collected signatures to force a referendum. Subsequently, the Swiss people voted 58% in favor of the bill on 5 June 2005. The law came into effect on 1 January 2007. Switzerland was the first nation to pass a same-sex union law by referendum.
At the end of August 2008, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that long-term same-sex partners were entitled to the same vested pension benefits as long-term opposite-sex partners. A shared residence is not required.
The ability to enter into a registered partnership was closed off on 1 July 2022. No further partnerships are granted in Switzerland, and couples may retain their status as registered partners or convert their union into a recognized marriage.
Adoption and parenting.
Article 27 of the partnership law addresses the rights and responsibilities concerning a partner's child. It states that the partner of the biological or adoptive parent must provide financial support to their partner's child and also possesses the full legal authority to represent the child in every matter as being the parent's partner. Additionally, in the case of a partnership dissolution, the ex-partner has the right to keep close ties with the child. This gives couples a real role in being parents. In 2010, Swiss LGBT organisations started a petition, "Same Chances For All Families", demanding more adoption rights. On 30 September 2011, the National Council considered the petition but ultimately voted 83–97 against it. However, the debate and close vote provided a view on how attitudes on the issue had changed, as for example, Maja Ingold, MP for the Evangelical People's Party, spoke for more recognition of gay and lesbian parents, although her party had campaigned against the registered partnership law in 2005. It became clear that, while there was no majority for full joint adoption, allowing adoption of the partner's child (i.e. stepchild adoption) could gather majority support in Parliament.
The Council of States accepted the petition and the Legal Affairs Committee approved a motion from MP Claude Janiak backing the right to full joint adoption regardless of marital status or sexual orientation. In November 2011, the committee voted unanimously in favour, including members of the conservative Swiss People's Party. In February 2012, the Federal Council responded by informing the Council of States that they were in favour of stepchild adoption but against full joint adoption rights. On 14 March 2012, the Council of States approved 21–19 the full extension of adoption rights to same-sex couples regardless of marital status or sexual orientation. As the National Council had originally voted against it in September 2011, the bill had to be voted on again by the chamber, which did so on 13 December 2012, as it voted 113–64 to grant a person in a registered partnership the right to adopt biological or adopted children that their partner had before the start of the partnership. However, the motion granting full adoption rights approved by the Council of States was rejected by the National Council. On 4 March 2013, the new version approved by the National Council on 13 December was accepted by the Council of States by a majority of 26–16.
In November 2014, taking into account the parliamentary votes, the Federal Council approved allowing the adoption of the partner's child as part of a larger adoption reform. The bill would permit registered partners and cohabiting couples, both same-sex and different-sex, to petition to adopt, and would also lower the minimum age to adopt from 35 to 28. The legislation had to be approved by Parliament, though opponents had already announced they would force an optional referendum. For such a referendum to occur, citizens opposing the law had to gather 50,000 signatures within 100 days. In January 2016, the Council of States' Legal Affairs Committee voted 7 to 3 with one abstention to approve the bill. On 8 March 2016, the Council of States voted 25–14 in favor. Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga expressed her support for the bill and argued that it was "necessary" to legally protect children already raised by same-sex couples. On 13 May 2016, the National Council's Legal Affairs Committee voted 15–9 to approve the bill. The following day, it was approved by the National Council in a 113–64 vote. Differing texts caused the two chambers to agree on a final, slightly modified version of the bill that was passed in Parliament on 17 June 2016 by a vote of 125–68 with 3 abstentions. Following the final vote in Parliament, a referendum committee was established including members of several different political parties with the aim of forcing a referendum on the bill. No major party supported the committee. On 4 October 2016, it was confirmed that the referendum would not take place as only 20,000 signatures had been collected. The law took effect on 1 January 2018.
Statistics.
The first same-sex partnership was registered on 2 January 2007 in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. By the end of June 2022, 12,332 same-sex partnerships had taken place in Switzerland.
Most partnerships were performed in the canton of Zurich at 3,786, followed by Vaud (1,350), Bern (1,271), Geneva (1,131), Aargau (655), Basel-Stadt (493), St. Gallen (426), Lucerne (412), Basel-Landschaft (404), Ticino (342), Fribourg (326), Valais (295), Solothurn (283), Thurgau (257), Neuchâtel (179), Zug (158), Schwyz (130), Grisons (129), Schaffhausen (88), Jura (55), Appenzell Ausserrhoden (46), Glarus (29), Nidwalden (28), Obwalden (24), Uri (22), and Appenzell Innerrhoden (13).
Cantonal laws.
Cohabitation.
Certain Swiss cantonal constitutions recognise and guarantee the right to cohabit and to found a family outside of marriage for both different-sex and same-sex couples; these include among others the constitutions of Vaud, Zurich, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Geneva, Zug, Schaffhausen, and Fribourg.
Registered partnerships.
The canton of Geneva has had a partnership law on a cantonal level since 2001. It grants unmarried couples, both same-sex and opposite-sex, many of the same rights, responsibilities and protections as married couples. However, it does not allow benefits in taxation, social security, or health insurance premiums (unlike the federal law). The law is based on the French civil solidarity pact. In autumn 2016, the Department of Public Instruction of Geneva introduced new forms in schools allowing same-sex parents to be recognized; the previous forms with boxes for "father" and "mother" were replaced with two boxes listing "parents".
On 22 September 2002, the canton of Zurich passed a same-sex partnership law by referendum (62.7% in favor) that goes further than Geneva's law, but requires couples to live together for six months before registering.
In July 2004, the Grand Council of Neuchâtel passed a partnership law recognizing unmarried couples by 65 votes to 38. The law grants registered partners all the cantonal-level rights of marriage. Registered partnerships for same-sex couples are recognized in the Constitution of Fribourg. In May 2004, voters approved the Constitution with 58.03% in favor and 41.97% against. It took effect on 1 January 2005. Article 14(2) states: "The right to register a partnership for same-sex couples is guaranteed".
Marriage.
On 6 June 2016, the Cantonal Council of Zurich rejected by a vote of 110–52 a proposal that would have defined marriage as "a union between one man and one woman" in the Constitution of Zurich. The proposal, introduced by the Federal Democratic Union (EDU/UDF), sought to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in the canton. EDU and most members of the Swiss People's Party were in favor of the measure, while all other parties, including the Christian Democratic People's Party and the Evangelical People's Party, were opposed. The EDU subsequently gathered 6,000 signatures to force a cantonal referendum on the issue. The referendum took place on 27 November 2016, where the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected; 80.9% voted against it, while 19.1% voted in favor. Voters in Zurich's Aussersihl and Industriequartier districts voted "No" by more than 92%. All municipalities rejected the proposal.
Same-sex marriage.
In 2012, Parliament requested that the executive Swiss Federal Council examine how to update family law to reflect changes in society. In March 2015, the Council released its governmental report about marriage and new rights for families, raising the possibility of the introduction of registered partnerships for straight couples and marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga, in charge of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, also stated she hoped that gay and lesbian couples would soon be allowed to marry.
Political parties and support.
Same-sex marriage is supported by the Green Party (GPS/PES), the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), the Green Liberal Party (GLP/PVL), the Swiss Party of Labour (PdA/PST-POP), The Liberals (FDP/PLR), The Centre (formed in 2021 by the merger of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) and the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD)), and Solidarity. The Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), the Evangelical People's Party (EVP/PEV), the Ticino League and the Federal Democratic Union (EDU/UDF) are mostly opposed. In 2017, Gerhard Pfister said he believed that around two-thirds of Christian Democratic lawmakers opposed same-sex marriage. However, a 2019 survey showed that about 83% of CVP candidates running in the October 2019 federal election were in favour of same-sex marriage. The same survey showed that 48% of SVP candidates were in favour. In April 2018, the women's wing of The Liberals voted by 56 votes to 2 to support same-sex marriage. On 26 January 2019, the national Swiss People's Party adopted a new party programme. A proposal to strike the party's opposition to same-sex marriage was rejected by the delegates with a vote of 166 to 126.
During a 2019 public consultation on the legalisation of same-sex marriage, the governments of Geneva, Vaud, Zurich, Bern, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, Luzern, Valais, Schaffhausen, Grisons, Ticino, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen, Solothurn, Jura, Glarus, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Zug, Uri and Thurgau expressed support for the opening of marriage to same-sex couples, while the governments of Schwyz, Nidwalden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Obwalden expressed opposition. Several organisations and associations also came out in support, including LGBT and feminist groups, Operation Libero, the National Ethics Committee, ProFamilia CH, the Swiss Psychological Society, and religious groups such as the Old Catholic Church, the Protestant Church of Switzerland and the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities. Opposition was found mainly among pro-life and religious groups, including the Episcopal Conference of Switzerland.
On 15 August 2019, Gottfried Locher, president of the Protestant Church of Switzerland, declared his personal support for same-sex marriage. In November 2019, the Protestant Church voted to support the opening of marriage to same-sex couples. This followed a June 2019 statement from the church, "We are created by God.