The Swiss press have largely welcomed voters’ broad support to closing a loophole in lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) rights by extending anti-racism laws to cover sexual orientation.

Sunday February 9 was “a bad day for intolerant people”, wrote the Blick tabloid on Monday. Yesterday, 63.1% of voters came out in favour of extending current anti-racism legislation to make it illegal to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation. Blick said the vote meant “more freedom for hundreds of thousands of citizens” and was not about censorship or muzzling. The Tages-Anzeiger paper said the result should be seen as a further step towards equality for homosexuals rather than any kind of special protection. “[Homosexuals] are threatened and marginalised. Society is now clearly saying that it will not tolerate this,” it said. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) also largely welcomed the “symbolic” decision. “Voices standing against diversity in life found no support,” …