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The Swiss vote yes to same-sex relationships and "Schengen/Dublin"

In a nationwide referendum on June 5, 2005, the Swiss people approved by 58% a registered partnership law, granting same-sex couples the same rights and protections as heterosexual couples, except:

• adoption of children
• fertility treatments
• taking the same surname

However, in terms of next of kin status, taxation, social security, insurance, and shared possession of a dwelling, same-sex couples are granted the same rights as married couples. The official title in German of the same-sex union is "Eingetragene Partnerschaft," meaning "registered partnership." Parliament originally passed the law by a three-fourths majority in June 2004, but the conservative Federal Democratic Union collected signatures to force a referendum. The law came into effect on January 1, 2007.

Same-sex marriages formed outside Switzerland (e.g. in the Netherlands, where this is allowed) will be acknowledged as civil unions. Switzerland was the first nation to pass a same-sex union law by referendum.

The Canton of Geneva has had a law on cantonal level, "Registered Partnership" or "PACS" (Pacte civil de solidarité), since 2001. It grants unmarried couples, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, many rights, responsibilities and protections that married couples have. However, it does not allow benefits in taxation, social security, or health insurance premiums (unlike the federal law). The origin of the PACS lies in the French law of the same name. By February 2005, 215 same-sex and 54 opposite-sex couples took advantage of the law and 19 couples ended their partnerships.

In analogy to the verb "se marier" (to marry), in both the French-speaking parts of Switzerland as well as in France there exists the expression "se pacser".

On September 22, 2002, the canton of Zurich passed a same-sex partnership law by referendum (62.7% yes) that goes further than Geneva's law, but requires couples to live together for six months before registering. Between July 2003 and the end of 2004, 383 same-sex couples took advantage of the law.

In July 2004, the canton of Neuchâtel passed a law recognizing unmarried couples. 35 opposite-sex and 21 same-sex couples took advantage of the law by February 2005.

• "Act on registered partnerships between persons of the same sex (Partnership Act)" Outline of the provisions of the Partnership Act from the canton of Lucerne (PDF document)
• "Geneva Dispatch #2: Switzerland Approves Same-Sex Partnerships," Opinio Juris weblog on international law, July 28, 2005
• "First same-sex union registered in Switzerland," Swissinfo.com, January 2, 2007