Zurich votes yes to same-sex couples
In 2002 Zurich voted yes to registered partnership for female and male couples.
On 22 September 2002, the canton of Zurich voted on a bill that was to give same-sex couples in the canton legal protection for the first time. It concerned a law on the registration of female and male couples. The result was clear. Almost sixty-three per cent voted yes.
Geneva and Neuchâtel also introduced cantonal registers. In Zurich, however, the decision was taken at the ballot box. The yes campaign promoted it with posters showing real couples.
From summer 2003, couples could register at the civil registry office, usually in the wedding room. Beforehand they had to undertake before a notary to run a joint household and to support each other. Then came a six-month wait. From then on, registered couples were treated the same as married couples in social assistance and patients' rights law and in cantonal inheritance and gift taxes.
The limits, however, were tightly drawn. Inheritance law, social insurance and ordinary tax assessment were regulated by the federal government, where the canton could do nothing. Civil status remained unchanged. And anyone who moved away from the canton automatically lost the partnership.
Demand was nevertheless high. In the first year and a half, almost five hundred couples registered, considerably more male than female couples. Not a single partnership was dissolved by mutual request during that time. Cantonal councillor Markus Notter spoke of a high rate by international standards.
From the outset, the Zurich law was intended as a transitional solution. In June 2005 Switzerland approved the federal Partnership Act, which applied throughout the country from 2007. After that, another fifteen years passed before same-sex couples were also allowed to marry.