Switzerland votes to criminalise gay hate after campaign to bring the country in line with much of the rest of Europe
- Parliament wanted to punish homophobia in the same way as racism in 2018
- Opponents citing free speech concerns secured a referendum on Sunday
- Voters have backed criminalising gay hate in the same was that race hate is
Switzerland has voted to criminalise gay hate after a campaign to bring the country in line with much of the rest of Europe.
A referendum on Sunday backed extending legislation protecting people from racist abuse to cover lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who face prejudice.
Conservative Switzerland does not yet have laws that specifically protect lesbians, gays and bisexuals from discrimination.
Gay rights campaigners are pictured in Bern, Switzerland, as the nation voted to criminalise homophobic discrimination
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Parliament passed a law in 2018 to widen the application of anti-racism statutes, so that offenders would face jail for up to three years.
But opponents secured the 50,000 signatures necessary under the system of direct democracy to put to the matter to a vote on Sunday.
Early projections suggest that roughly 62 per cent of voters backed the change, with pollster gfs.bern calling the result.
The projection, which surfaced on social media, has a margin of error of three percentage points.
The government has spoken out in support of the move and supporters' campaign posters featured two pink hearts rubbing up against each other under an umbrella.
Opponents have argued that the change to the law would be an infringement of free speech.
Swiss voters on Sunday also rejected a second initiative calling for at least 10 per cent of new housing to be built by not-for-profit cooperatives in an attempt to reduce the cost of living.
The same pollster projected that only 42 per cent of voters had backed that proposal, again with a margin of error of three points.
It leaves just 11 areas in Europe to not have laws that criminalise homophobic discrimination.
They included the disputed territories of Transnistria, which lies in between Moldova and Ukraien, and South Ossetia, which has Russia bordering its northern stretch and Georgia along its southern stretch.
Abkhazia, a disputed territory to the east of the Black Sea, and Artsakh, a disputed territory the UN considers part of Armenia, also don't criminalise homophobia.
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