Switzerland is making history with its vote for a new law against homophobia.
Preliminary figures revealed that 60.5 percent voted for expanding existing laws against forms of discrimination of incitement to hatred on ethnic or religious grounds to include sexual orientation. This includes the public act of denigrating or discriminating against homosexuals in the form of text, speech, images or gestures.
All of Switzerland's major parties, save for the populist right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), voted in favor of the new law.
"This is a historic day," said Mathias Reynard from the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, who had initially pushed for the reform. "It gives a signal which is magnificent for everyone and for anyone who has been a victim of discrimination."