In Switzerland, the first same-sex couple says "I do"

Schaffhausen — Alois Carnier (57) and Peter Leu (67) also said on Friday, "From the bottom of my heart, I am. I will. " Same-sex marriage has been legalized in Switzerland.

This is the first time two men have left the Schaffhausen town's civic registration as her husband and husband.

Voters approved the "Marriage to All" initiative with a majority of nearly two-thirds last September, making Switzerland one of the last countries to legalize same-sex marriage in Western Europe. I made it.

"The ceremony was very important to me because it's been 20 years," he said in a registration partnership with Leu in 2014 and has been active in decades of campaigns. Carnier says. Recognize homosexual rights.

Throughout Geneva, Aline (46) and Laure (45) also tied a knot after spending 21 years together. They have a four-year-old son and, like Leu and Carnier, previously had a civil partnership.

"In every sense, this is a new stage (for us)," said Lore, a talent specialist who didn't reveal her surname like her partner.

"It was a very moving and long-awaited moment. It sends a strong message to society ... to love freely," said Mayor of Geneva, Marie Barbey Chapis, who attended the ceremony.

Equality

Same-sex couples gained the right to participate in a civil partnership in 2007 and the right to adopt their parent's child in 2018.

However, they did not have the rights granted, including regular adoption, access to sperm donations, and an easier way to the citizenship of a foreign spouse, married. Homosexual couple.

Same-sex partners are now able to take advantage of these options throughout their marriage.

For Leu and Carnier, change has brought emotional and social weight.

"I think it's important that our marriage is equally recognized and not on the side of a special category," Leu said.

Men are planning to consolidate their marriage at a religious wedding next year.

In June, Carnier's council, which presides over the Christian Catholic Church in Switzerland, voted to celebrate the marriage of same-sex couples with the same sacrament and rituals as heterosexual weddings. did.

The couple plans to invite family and friends to their religious ceremonies. Among them are two adult children that Lou shares with his ex-wife and a two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter.

"I'm sure it would be very natural for her if she grew up with her three grandfathers," Leu said. "The horizons have expanded. We can see that there are many ways to live today." (Reported by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Arnd Wiegmann in Schaffhausen, Boris Heger in Geneva, edited by Gareth Jones)