Thousands of protesters in Switzerland call for legalisation of same-sex marriage

Thousands of demonstrators protested in Switzerland on Saturday for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the Alpine country.

The protests came ahead of a national referendum on September 26 on the legalisation of gay marriage, which has already been introduced in many other European countries including Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands.

Public broadcaster SRF reported that tens of thousands took part in the Zurich Pride parade which had the slogan “You can do it. Marriage for everyone now.”

So far, same-sex couples in Switzerland can only get official approval for civil unions, which are not on equal footing as marriages. If a majority votes for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Switzerland this would also allow couple to adopt children. In addition, lesbian couples would have easier access to sperm donations if they wanted to start a family and it would be easier for foreign partners to get Swiss citizenship.

Opponents of the legalisation say that marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman together only and that children should have the right to have both a traditional father and a mother.

SRF reported that 70 groups from the LGBT community supported the protests.