The Swiss criminalisation of homophobia will not end discrimination, but is likely to make it more difficult to talk about it.
On February 9, 2020, Swiss voters approved the expansion of the existing law against racial discrimination in public to include sexual orientation. Article 261bis of the Swiss penal code has significantly shaped how racism is understood in Swiss public discourse. Criticised for its restrictive legal application by national and international anti-racist actors, the law allows Switzerland to keep face as a signatory of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
In 2013, the Swiss parliament and government followed a parliamentary initiative to extend the article to include sexual orientation. The move seems counter-intuitive in a country that has been resisting the LGBTQ movement’s demands for the same rights regarding marriage and reproductive rights – or it could be read as a good bargain, compared to granting same-sex couples full civil rights.
