Switzerland gears up to vote in same-sex marriage referendum

Conservative parties oppose extension of same-sex couples rights beyond basic civil partnership

Swiss voters will determine on Sunday whether to allow same-sex couples to wed and enjoy the same rights as heterosexual marriage partners, after a bitter referendum campaign in one of the last western Europeans countries still to ban gay marriage.

The government and parliament approved marriage for same-sex couples last year, allowing them to adopt children not parented by either partner, giving lesbian couples access to sperm donation, and simplifying citizenship for foreign spouses.