Switzerland votes to legalize same-sex marriage - NBC News

The vote — years in the making — is set to bring the Alpine nation into line with many others in Western Europe and wraps up an often tense campaign between rival sides.

The country has authorized same-sex civil partnerships since 2007.

“With this, all couples will in the future be treated equally before the law: all can enter into a civil marriage, with the same rights and obligations,” Keller-Sutter wrote.

Opponents believe that replacing civil partnerships with full marriage rights would undermine families based on a union between a man and a woman

Most countries in Western Europe already recognize same-sex marriage, while most of those in Central and Eastern Europe don’t permit wedlock between two men or two women