Swiss government announces same-sex couples can marry from July 1

Same-sex partners will be put on an equal legal footing with heterosexual couples (Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP)

Switzerland’s executive body has announced that same-sex couples can get married from July 1 next year, making good on the resounding support Swiss voters expressed in a recent referendum.

The Federal Council officially said Switzerland would, from January 1, recognise the marriages of same-sex couples who wed in other countries instead of continuing to treat the unions as simple civil partnerships.