Switzerland just took this massive step forward to protect LGBTQ people

Switzerland – that mysterious multi-lingual land-locked country in the middle of Europe – is, by most measures, a pretty fantastic place to live.

Its citizens are some of the wealthiest in the world (with an average salary of £60K per year), the country consistently ranks near the top of quality of life tables and it has snowy, ski-friendly winters and balmy, sunny summers. BRB just applying for my Swiss passport. 

And now the Alpine nation has taken a massive step to protect its LGBTQ residents by changing the laws so that anyone who is homophobic or transphobic towards someone else will face jail time. 

ShortList chatted with the man behind the new law Mathias Reynard, who is heterosexual, about what inspired him to push for the legislation – and what else Switzerland needs to do to protect its LGBTQ citizens.

What inspired you to push for these new LGBTQ laws?

“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.” Read more via ShortLIst