Meanwhile, the parliament opts to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. A journalist in Prague analyses the positions of evangelical Christians.

The Swiss parliament approved the “marriage for all” law in December, allowing LGBT people to adopt and use reproductive technology. Now two initiatives seek to collect 50’000 signatures to ask the population in a referendum.

Under the new law, “mere criticism of gay marriage is not an offense”, authorities say. There will be a consultation before religious same-sex weddings become legal in May 2020.

“Since 1992, civil marriages have increasingly outnumbered religious marriages”, the Office for National Statistics says. Religious ceremonies now account for less than a quarter of all weddings.