Most Swiss still oppose third gender identity marker

Overall, 57% of Swiss respondents rejected the idea of adding a "diverse" gender identity marker on official documents. A year ago, the figure was 62%. Keystone/ Jan Woitas

Six out of ten people in Switzerland are against the use of a third gender option on official documents, a survey shows. Disapproval was more pronounced among men than women.

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Overall, 57% of the population rejected the inclusion of a “diverse” gender, a new survey published on Monday shows. A year ago, the figure was 62%.

Of the Swiss women surveyed, 43% would be happy to have a “diverse” option on official documents, which has already been introduced in Germany. This is one of the conclusions of a survey conducted by the Leewas Institute on behalf of the 20 Minutes tabloid and Tamedia. Among men, the figure was 35%.

In terms of party sympathy, the rightwing Swiss People’s Party was the least in favour of adding a third gender identity marker (16%). The leftwing Social Democrats (67%) and Greens (64 %) and centre-right Liberal Green Party (58 %) were more open. With 39% and 37% approval, the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party and the Centre Party were close to the national average.

According to the survey, there were hardly any differences between cities, urban centres and rural areas. Approval in the cities (36%) was one percentage point lower than in the other areas.

In terms of age, the rejection of the third gender form is most pronounced among 35 to 49-year-olds (59%), followed by younger people aged between 18 and 34 (58%). At 56%, the 50 to 64-year-olds are the most open-minded.

In terms of education, academics were the most open to the idea of a third gender marker, with 52% in favour. In contrast, 61% of people with who have completed compulsory education, or vocational or commercial school rejected the idea of a “diverse” option on official documents.

A total of 12,444 people took part in the online survey from across Switzerland. The poll was conducted by 20 Minutes and Tamedia from June 6 to 9 after the federal referendum vote on June 9, 2024. The margin of error was 2.2 percentage points.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/sb

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