Reflection 2: LGBTQ+ issues in Switzerland
I chose to interview Hulia, a pseudonym, who is a self-identified member of the LGBTQ+ community but isn’t associated with MIIS. She lives and works in Bern, Switzerland as a speech therapist in a primary school. I chose Hulia to interview because I knew she would be very honest and forthright about her views and thoughts.
Although Hulia identifies as apart of the LGBTQ+ community, she did state that in Switzerland it is known merely as the Gay and Lesbian Community. She explained that it is not necessary to segment each disenfranchised group and in fact, by doing so, she thinks it lessens the message to a certain extent. Regardless of the name, she saw the community as important to gaining equality in the eyes of society. She hoped for the day that this community would not be needed as that would be a sign of acceptance by society in her eyes. But she definitely sees a need for it now. There is violence against members of the LGBTQ community (during 2019 there was an attack every week against a LGBTQ person) and a recent survey found that 10% of residents in Switzerland thought homosexuality was immoral.
In terms of equality, same sex partnerships are allowed but not marriage. She has neither legal status and did not know much about the legal differences between the two besides the fact that same-sex couples in a partnership could not adopt children unlike married couples. Additionally, there are legal protections against discrimination based on sexual preference at work. She did state that there are forms of ‘hidden’ discrimination and mentioned a job interview she went to in a conservative canton (province) of Switzerland. The interviewers were very interested in the fact that she had no family and was a woman over 40. Hulia did not get the job and wondered if her family lessness, which could indicate sexual preference, may have been the deciding factor as the person hired had her same qualifications but she had a family.
Despite these inequalities, the not insignificant level of violence, and the ‘hidden’ discrimination, she feels that she can be herself both in her private and public life. She is a reserved woman who lives with her girlfriend openly. Her biggest resistance has actually come from her family where her younger sister and parents don’t fully accept that she is a lesbian and they have actually tried to negatively influence the rest of the extended family against her.
Hulia never received any sort of diversity education during her formal education (master’s degree equivalent) but wishes that she had. She felt that this sort of education would help combat negative stereotypes and influences whether from the media, friends, or family. She stated that more representation in text books and favorable representation in the media would go far to normalize the LGBTQ community within society. She had an insight with regards to young children as she thought up until about the 6th or 7th grade they were generally non-judgmental but that changes as they get older. She further stated that children’s opinions and attitudes are heavily influenced by their families.
Hi Oliver – so Hulia is a teacher? I think I would like to hear more on that! Also, what she said about the LGBTQ+ vs Gay and Lesbian Communities resonated with me. On the one hand, if you say Gay and Lesbian communities that excludes the transgender people who are the most marginalized group within this community. I agree with her though that there’s now a tons of acronyms used [I will add a video if I can find it] that acknowledging all the different groups might be doing more damage than good. I like LGBTQ+ because the plus covers the other groups that we don’t name here.
Oh here is the video: https://truecolorsunited.org/2018/02/22/lgbt-lgbtq-acronyms-explained/
Hi Oliver,
Thank you for sharing your interview with Hulia. I encountered the same assumptions from people that if one is not married in their 40s or even 30s in China, people would wonder her sexual preference. I found this is unfair but it more or less influences people’s behavior and interactions with this unmarried person later on.
Deniz, thanks for the video which reinforces what I think Hulia meant about making the name that refers to the community, or its branding, too complex. I think Queer covers most of the identities and was even introduced in the video as an umbrella term. At the very least it can get rid of the LGB. It appeared, to me, to cover everything except maybe the I for intersex. Intersex is a biological classification not a preference or choice. I first noticed the community acronym when it was LGBT and then the Q was added, then the + then the I and the A….It can appear that every disenfranchised group that can find uniqueness has lobbied to get a letter and, unfortunately, it becomes a moving target. If differentiating to this level of detail continues, aren’t we all included as we are all unique in some way? What about a person who is biologically one gender, self-identifies as another gender, fantasizes sexually about a 3rd gender but is asexual?
Hi Oliver, thank you for sharing! It’s really interesting to see the cultural differences between how we talk about the LGBTQ+ community. What Hulia said about preferring just Gay and Lesbian community reminded me that even people within marginalized communities have very different opinions on important issues regarding the community.
I agree, it goes to show that there will always be a group in ‘power’ and a group feeling marginalized even within a seemingly connected community that is itself marginalized by the larger society. There is strength in numbers but the group needs to have a common message and not let the message get too fractured.
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