Switzerland just said it out loud: ban conversion therapy nationwide

via SWI swissinfo.ch and Washington Blade

Switzerland does most things one canton at a time. On Wednesday, September 2, the Federal Council published a report saying that on conversion therapy, that is no longer good enough. Uniform national legislation, the government wrote, is "worthwhile." It also wrote that it "clearly rejects and condemns" any practice that tries to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.

what the report says

The report's own description of the damage is worth quoting, because governments do not usually put it this plainly. Conversion practices "could cause considerable psychological distress, anxiety and depression, and impair self-esteem and social relationships." The government admitted it does not have good numbers on how many people are subjected to them. It called the current situation a "patchwork of cantonal regulations."

The patchwork: Neuchâtel banned it first, in 2023. Valais and Vaud followed. Bern and Geneva are weighing their own bans, and Zurich has said it plans one. Everywhere else in the country, it is legal to sit a teenager in a room and try to pray the gay out of them.

what it does not do

What the report does not do is pass a law. Parliament has rejected national proposals before, and the Council's language is "open to" legislation rather than "here is the bill." So this is a door, not a finish line. It is still a bigger door than the country has opened on this before, and it comes from the executive, not from an activist motion that can be voted down and forgotten.

Context from the neighbours: Germany banned the practice for minors and non-consenting adults in 2020. The Netherlands approved a ban in June. Belgium, Cyprus, France, Malta, Norway, Portugal and Spain have full bans. Switzerland, which likes to think of itself as the tidy one, is now on record saying it wants to catch up. We will hold them to it.