LGBT history in Switzerland
Switzerland has a long history regarding the movement of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.
Prior to the 20th century, sodomy and other types of sexual intercourse between people of the same sex was held in various levels of legal contempt.
The first ever unequivocal legal basis for the punishment of homosexuality in Switzerland is the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, variations of which were introduced in many cantons of the Confederation by 1532.
Even before that, in the 13th century, criminal prosecution and execution of men accused of practising the "sodomite vice" and penalties for sodomy increased significantly in Europe.
Even so, the number of people condemned to death for homosexual acts in the Swiss Confederation was relatively low compared to that in Italian cities in the fifteenth century.
Conversely, abroad the Swiss were often reviled and, insulted as a people who had sex with cows, as a play on their rural origins[citation needed].
In 1416 in Basel, the Dominican Heinrich von Rheinfelden was protected from prosecution by the Grand Council by his order, despite evidence of homosexual acts.
Thus, during the term of office of Hans Conrad Heidegger (1649–1721) as the provincial governor of Kyburg County [de] between 1694 and 1698, 22 young people were executed for sodomy.
In the surviving court records, there is a documented linguistic distinction between the sodomy offences, where sodomia was used for homosexual acts and intercourse with animals was referred to as bestialitas.
The history of LGBT emancipation began in 1836, with the publication of a book by Heinrich Hössli, a cloth merchant from Glarus, defending homosexuality and love between men.
In the German-speaking world outside Switzerland during the mid-19th century, two liberal champions of gay rights made their ideas public.
From the beginning of the 20th century, increasing numbers of cantons no longer treated sodomy as an official offence, and pursued charges only on request.
When the Nazis rose to power in Germany, Berlin's reputation across Europe as the most liberal and attractive city for LGBT people changed abruptly.
Police in several Swiss cities began to create registers of homosexuals, to which they added people in raids on meeting places.
Due to the barbarism in Europe and the new freedom in Switzerland, Zurich rose in importance as a European gay capital.
Examples are Die Runde (The Round) camaraderie in Reutlingen, Germany, the Journal Arcadie in France, the Cultuur- en Ontspannings Centrum in the Netherlands, Kredsen af 1948 in Denmark, and the Mattachine Society in the United States of America.
The topic of homosexuality was first mentioned by Swiss Television, under the theme of "youth protection", in programmes broadcast in January and February 1967.
In 1975, gays marched with a banner on the 1 May (May Day) rally in Basel, the first time LGBT people had drawn attention to their concerns to the wider public.
The ‘Homosexuellen Arbeitsgruppen Schweiz’’ (HACH) (‘’Gay Working Groups of Switzerland’’), the ‘’Schweizer Organisation der Homophilen’’ (SOH) (Swiss Organization of Homophiles) and the ‘’Homosexuelle Frauengruppe’’ (HFG) (Gay Women's Group) organized the first ‘’Christopher-Street-Liberation-Memorial Day’’ (CSD) in Switzerland at the Zürich Platzspitz to commemorate the Stonewall riots.
Many of the founders died, and LGBT people were stigmatised, leading to CSDs and gay rights demonstrations becoming sporadic rather than annual.
In 1985, ‘’Loge 70’’, all ‘’HA’’ groups, ‘’SOH’’, and the Federal Health Office (BAG) founded ‘’Aids-Hilfe Schweiz’’ (AHS) (AIDS-Help Switzerland).
Thus, the attitude of the public to the concerns of gays and lesbians has changed for the positive, ultimately resulting in a gradual increase in equality.
Due to the growing numbers of visitors and participants in the CSD in Zurich, it has become an increasingly important festival and a major tourist attraction for the city.
[3] In 1999, Claude Janiak was first elected to the National Council of Switzerland, becoming the first openly gay male member of the federal Parliament.
The Gay Pride 2001 in Sion caused a sensation in particular, as the Valais Bishop Norbert Brunner condemned the relocation as a "teuflisches Spiel" ("devilish/satanic/diabolical/fiendish game"), triggering unimagined media coverage.
In 2003 in Basel, a "Dreiländer-CSD" (three-country CSD) was held (Germany - France - Switzerland) together with the Alsace Mulhouse and the Baden Freiburg.
In 2005, a CSDs was held in Lucerne (a Swiss German-speaking venue, as a gift to the West Switzerland vote for the Partnership Act 2005), and there was also a national demonstration.
