The Bundesrat met for the last time this week in the old constellation and discussed the final decisions with Simonetta Sommaruga (62) and Ueli Maurer (72), who will step down at the end of the year. This time, the Federal Council discussed a report designed to explain whether Switzerland is willing to officially allow a third gender in addition to “woman” and “man”.
That Ueli Maurer is not particularly “awakened” on this issue became apparent when he stated during the press conference about his resignation that he did not want “It” as his successor. He later admitted that he made this statement out of sheer provocation.
Today, the Bundesrat as a whole doubled down and adopted a report concluding that Switzerland was not yet ready. The binary gender model is still firmly established in Swiss society and a social discourse is needed before a new gender model can be developed, the Federal Council statement said.
Constitution should be changed
A change would have far-reaching consequences that have hardly been discussed so far, the Federal Council continues. For example, the federal constitution should be amended – for example in the field of military and alternative service, because it does not contain any regulation for persons who are not registered as male or female in the register of persons. In addition, numerous registers and the categories in the statistics would have to be changed.
The Federal Council also referred to the position of the National Ethics Commission, which reached the same conclusion in a 2020 report. At the time, the Commission took stock of the fact that the legislation and practice were not sufficient, but that the social preconditions for adaptation had to be created first.
The Bundesrat took its time
The Federal Council drafted the final report under pressure from Parliament. As early as 2018, it decided that the government should explain what would happen to Switzerland if it allowed the third gender. The responsible department took the time for the development. The Green National Council Sibel Arslan (42) had asked about him.
This has little understanding of the conclusion of the report. As she announced on Twitter, she accuses the Federal Council of judging the Swiss population as “backwards” because the local society is “not ready for a third gender”.
In many countries around the world, there is already a third gender option on official documents for people who do not identify as female or male. This is often filled in with an X in the passport. What will soon not be possible in Switzerland is already available in Argentina, Bangladesh, Germany and Austria. (she/SDA)