GENEVA — Last November, a private daycare provider in northern Switzerland generated headlines when it refused to enroll twin toddlers whose fathers are gay – a relationship that the center’s director described as “neither normal nor natural.” 

Although the incident sparked public outrage, it did not break any laws, as no legislation prohibiting discrimination specifically against gays and lesbians currently exists in Switzerland.

But that may change on Feb. 9, when Swiss voters will head to the polls to decide whether homophobia – hate crimes or discrimination based on sexual orientation –should be criminalized.

If passed, Switzerland would join a handful of other European nations like Denmark and the Netherlands where homophobia is a criminal offense.

In 2018, the Swiss parliament approved a motion to widen the country’s anti-racism laws that protect citizens from racial, ethnic and religious persecution to include discrimination based on sexual orientation. 

But a conservative political party, the Federal Democratic Union (UDF), launched a referendum against expanding the anti-discrimination laws, claiming that such “useless censorship” would restrict freedom of speech.

“We must have the right to express another opinion, without being accused of propagating discriminatory or homophobic words,” UDF’s president Marc Früh said.

The government, as well as most political parties, support the new law, arguing that debates on sexual orientation and gender identity will continue to be allowed as part of Switzerland’s constitutional right to free expression.

However, public incitement to hatred and discrimination, as well as threats and violence against gays and lesbians, will be punishable by up to three years in prison should the referendum become law after Sunday's vote.

Früh’s party was able to launch the referendum because Switzerland’s unique system of direct democracy gives the public the right to put every piece of legislation to a vote, giving the citizens – rather than lawmakers – the power to shape local and national policies.

Mathias Reynard, the lawmaker who was the driving force behind the parliamentary motion, tweeted that the new law would “fill a legal loophole and send out a powerful message that homophobia will no longer be tolerated.”

While Switzerland is set to vote on the referendum, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide later this year whether a long-standing federal employment discrimination law also protects gay, lesbian, and transgender workers. And, 2020 marks the 5-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision legalizing same-sex marriage across the country. In the U.S. political arena, an openly gay candidate emerged earlier this week from the first presidential preference contest in a leading position.  

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Although UDF’s Früh claims that members of Switzerland's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) community “are not discriminated and don’t need special protection,” advocates for the community say otherwise.

Roman Heggli, secretary-general of Swiss gay advocacy group Pink Cross, said the organization’s hotline receives dozens of reports of insults, threats, and physical violence against members of the LGBTIQ community each month.

But this number is only a tip of the iceberg, he said, “since 80 percent of homophobia cases are not reported.”

One such incident happened earlier this week when a woman wearing a gay rights button was verbally assaulted in a Geneva bus by another passenger. Before disembarking, the passenger said he took the opportunity to express his views prior to Sunday’s referendum, while such comments in a public place are still permitted.

Though the new legislation might put an end to such incidents, Heggli said more progress is needed. In a study conducted recently by a gay rights organization ILGA on Europe’s LGBTIQ equality laws and policies, Switzerland placed 28th out of 49 countries.

One reason may be Switzerland’s stance on same-sex couples. While the country recognizes civil unions between gay and lesbian couples, entitling them to pension and inheritance rights, adoption of children is still not legal.

However, that may soon change. The government has recently announced its intention to “rapidly” legalize same-sex marriage and adoptions, as is the case in some other European countries.

And there may soon be more developments on the horizon.

The latest poll from the GfS Research Institute shows that 69% of Swiss voters support the ban on LGBTIQ discrimination. At this point, “it’s virtually impossible for opponents to turn the current trend,” GfS’s political scientist Martina Mousson told Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. “Tolerance is a key value and it is deeply rooted in Swiss society.” 

Victory at the polls would send a “strong message” to the law’s opponents, Heggli said.

 “Knowing that the public is against homophobia would be an important step for our community,” he noted.