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Reuters

When Jehanne, 41, an artist and mother of an eight-year-old boy, was repeatedly insulted for supporting LGBT rights during a tram ride in the Swiss city of Geneva last month, she threatened to call the police.
But her aggressor said his remarks were not a crime under Swiss law.
“I was shaking, I was crying too,” said Jehanne, who asked for her last name to be withheld. “I looked around me and I was really surprised that no one looked at me or intervened at all.”
In the aggressor’s response to Jehanne, who is lesbian, he was strictly correct, exploiting a Swiss loophole in LGBT rights.

Conservative Switzerland, unlike many of its western European neighbours, does not have yet have laws that specifically protect sexual minorities from discrimination.
The government hopes to change that. Parliament passed a law in 2018 to extend anti-racism statutes to cover sexual orientation, and offenders could be jailed for three years.
But opponents last April obtained the minimum 50,000 signatures necessary under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy to put to the matter to a vote, to be held on Sunday.
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“I trust the Swiss people will not let themselves be censored,” said Marc Früh, a member of the small Federal Democratic Union (EDU) party, which launched the referendum.
His party, which has a Christian base and is stronger in the German-speaking east, has placed posters around the country showing a blonde woman with bulging eyes and black tape forming a cross over her mouth.
Supporters of the law have countered with images of two pink hearts rubbing up against each other beneath an umbrella – a symbol Jehanne was wearing on a pin the day she was verbally assaulted.
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Caroline Dayer, an expert in preventing violence and discrimination, said attacks on gays, already common, had increased as the vote has stirred emotions.
In Switzerland, two-thirds of lesbians and 80 per cent of gay men are targeted at some point in their lives, she said.
The government stresses that the new law will not hinder public debate or affect private conversations.
Even jokes about gays are still OK “as long as they respect human dignity”, Interior Minister Alain Berset said in a video message to voters.


Opinion polls suggest opponents do not have enough backing to scupper the new law, with 65 per cent inclined to vote yes, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS.
Even so, the law’s supporters say Switzerland still trails most neighbours on LGBT rights.
The protections under the new law do not apply to gender identity, for example, meaning transgender people are excluded.
Mathias Reynard, a Socialist MP who first raised the need for homophobia protection in 2013, hopes to bring Switzerland in line with 18 other European jurisdictions on gay marriage and a debate is planned next month. Civil unions are already legal.
“I hope one day we won’t need all of this (protection),” said Jehanne. “But I have the impression it won’t be the case any time soon.”


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LGBTQ

Switzerland to vote on LGBT protection law, as critics decry censorship

A poster against the anti-homophobia referendum. The poster reads: ‘censorship law, no’. Photo: Reuters

A campaign poster showing gagged Swiss MP Celine Amaudruz of right wing populist Swiss People's Party and asking Swiss voters in a referendum to reject a proposed ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation, charging it will lead to censorship, is seen on a billboard in Geneve, on January 30, 2020. - For gay rights campaigner Jean-Pierre Sigrist, the new law being voted on in a referendum in Switzerland on Sunday might have stopped him getting beaten up four decades ago. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

A poster in favour of the change of the penal code is pictured ahead of a referendum on anti-homophobia law in Geneva. Photo: Reuters

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For transgender people in rural China, derision, scorn and rejection are a daily reality

Liu Peilin in a village near Fuzhou, Fujian province, in China. Photo: Simon Song

Liu Peilin is pictured at his temporary home rented by others for him in a village Minhou county, Fuzhou city, China's Fujian province, on Sep. 19, 2019. Liu Peilin, a transgender, a man born in 1953, who was originally from Qingdao, Shandong province, has been wearing woman's dresses for over 20 years. 19SEP19 SCMP/Simon Song

Liu Peilin is pictured do his morning makeup at his temporary home rented by others for him in a village Minhou county, Fuzhou city, China's Fujian province, on Sep. 19, 2019. Liu Peilin, a transgender, a man born in 1953, who was originally from Qingdao, Shandong province, has been wearing woman's dresses for over 20 years. 19SEP19 SCMP/Simon Song

Liu Peilin walks to her home in a village near Fuzhou, Fujian province, in China. Photo: Simon Song

Liu Peilin's cosmetics are pictured at his temporary home rented by others for him in a village Minhou county, Fuzhou city, China's Fujian province, on Sep. 18, 2019. Liu Peilin, a transgender, a man born in 1953, who was originally from Qingdao, Shandong province, has been wearing woman's dresses for over 20 years. 18SEP19 SCMP/Simon Song

Liu Peilin is pictured making lunch at his temporary home rented by others for him in a village Minhou county, Fuzhou city, China's Fujian province, on Sep. 18, 2019. Liu Peilin, a transgender, a man born in 1953, who was originally from Qingdao, Shandong province, has been wearing woman's dresses for over 20 years. 18SEP19 SCMP/Simon Song

Chao Xiaomi, a gender non-confirming individual, who fights for transgender rights in China, poses for a photo at her store in Beijing on June 18, 2019. 18JUN19 SCMP/Simon Song

Why Queen Elizabeth, Prince William and other British royals’ embrace of the LGBTQ+ community means so much

Britain's Charles, the Prince of Wales; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Queen Elizabeth, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex; Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Hong Kong’s lesbian bars are vanishing, but for LGBT people it’s actually a good sign in the traditionally conservative city

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LÕparadis Lesbian Pub owners, Van Lai (left) and Wing Lam (right), have been running lesbian bar for 19 years.Photo: Courtesy of Van Lai and Wing Lam[FEATURES 2020]

LÕparadis co-owners often holds LGBT+ freindly parties at their bar in Tsim Sha TsuiPhoto: Courtesy of Van Lai and Wing Lam[FEATURES 2020]

News

World

Europe


Unlike many of its western European neighbours, conservative Switzerland does not have yet have laws that protect sexual minorities from discrimination
Opponents of the anti-homophobia law say it would stifle free speech



Unlike many of its western European neighbours, conservative Switzerland does not have yet have laws that protect sexual minorities from discrimination.


Switzerland

Human rights