Lawmakers in Switzerland have voted to make transphobia and homophobia an offence which could land the perp 3 years in jail.
Switzerland is taking a tough stance on homophobia and transphobia after voting to make the crime’s punishment attract up to three years in jail. It means that the punishment for homophobia is now in line with that of racism in the country.
However, the bill still needs to be passed by the Council Of States before it becomes official law.
Mathias Reynard put the law forward and posted on Twitter “A magnificent success for human rights! Final response in December to the Council of States. # LGBT ?️???.”
“Powerful Message”
Speaking to Shortlist Mathias said, “The Swiss Parliament’s decision is great news because it sends the powerful message that homophobia is not an opinion; as for racism, it’s a violation of the law.
“I tabled the motion after speaking to friends of mine who have personally been victims of verbal and physical homophobic violence.
“And working on this law I found out that the Swiss case-law doesn’t punish either hate speech or incitement to hatred towards LGBT+ people. During the last few years, this loophole in the law has been pointed out several times at an international level.”
Switzerland falls short on LGBT+ Rights
However it’s interesting to note that gay marriage is still illegal in the country and full child adoption by gay couples is also banned.